A picture going around on social media is being mistaken for a regular clock, but it’s actually a digital sundial. This type of sundial uses the sun’s shadow to display the time. Digital sundials work only during the daytime, usually from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and need to be adjusted based on where they are located on the Earth. It’s important to know that sundial time and regular clock time are different because sundials rely on the sun’s movement, which is not always consistent due to the Earth’s orbit and tilted axis.
When the photo was searched online, a similar image was found on a website, where it was identified as a 3D printed digital sundial. Further searches showed that these types of sundials can be bought in different sizes and colors. It’s worth noting that digital sundials usually work in intervals of 20 minutes and require adjustments based on the latitude of their location. Videos demonstrating how these digital sundials work can be found online.
Sundials, including digital sundials, are one of the oldest ways of keeping time. Traditional sundials use the sun’s position to indicate the hour with a line or triangle. In contrast, digital sundials use specially designed objects shaped like numbers to cast shadows that represent the current time. These devices don’t need electricity to work and have no moving parts. The shape of the sundial is carefully calculated to allow only the right sunrays to pass through at the correct time and angle.
