Cesium Clocks -Reply

[FRAMEP@ORAU.GOV]

Steve:

Let me stick out my neck and hazard the guess that there is no such
thing as a cesium clock  using Cs-137.  There was a condemned man (I
wish I could remember his name) who, as he was about to be beheaded,
gave the headsman some money to make a clean job of it:  if I'm wrong,
make the correction relatively painless.

I believe the term cesium clock is used to describe a particular design of
atomic clock that utilizes the natural frequency of the cesium-133 (stable)
atom. In fact, I believe that the "atomic second" is defined as the time it
takes for the cesium electrons(?) to rotate 9,192 million times or some
such thing.  

Best wishes

Paul Frame
Professional Training Programs
ORISE
framep@orau.gov