Final answer:
A computer network clock that synchronizes daily with an atomic clock, like those used by NIST and broadcasted by radio station WWVB, ensures very high precision in timekeeping. This level of accuracy is critical for applications such as GPS, where even small timing errors can lead to significant discrepancies.
Step-by-step explanation:
A synchronized computer network clock may be verified as the standard clock if it is synchronized on a daily basis with an atomic clock, such as the ones operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The NIST operates radio station WWVB out of Fort Collins, Colorado, broadcasting a time synchronization signal at 60 kHz which is controlled by a set of atomic clocks with an accuracy of 1 × 10-12 seconds. This high-precision timekeeping is crucial for many technologies, particularly for Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites which must account for time dilation effects to provide accurate positioning information.
Atomic clocks, like the ones NIST uses, rely on the vibrations of cesium atoms to keep time to a precision of better than one microsecond per year. This precision is necessary because even minute discrepancies in time measurement can lead to significant errors in applications like GPS. Experiments, such as the one conducted at Harvard University in 1959 using a cobalt clock, have confirmed the relativistic effect of time dilation, where time is measured differently based on the distance from Earth's center of gravity. This phenomenon has practical implications in today's technology-driven world, where devices synchronize with satellites that operate on different time measurements due to their location in orbit.