We live in a world governed by precise time. In a world without greater accuracy many of today’s technological inventions would be impossible. We rely on high-precision clocks to navigate. GPS uses atomic clocks as its time base and all the satellites that are orbiting the world now have atomic clocks built into them. What sets atomic clock apart is that the inner rhythm of atom remains unchanged. Clocks that rely on their oscillation are the most accurate in the world. Specifically, a second was defined as the duration of 9,192,631,770 cycles of microwave light absorbed or emitted by the hyperfine transition of cesium-133 atoms in their ground state undisturbed by external fields.
This article details how GPS devices get their time more accurately using cesium atomic clock.