second, fundamental unit of time, now defined in terms of the radiation frequency at which atoms of the element cesium change from one state to another.
The second was formerly defined as 1/86,400 of the mean solar day—i.e., the average period of rotation of the Earth on its axis relative to the Sun. In the mid-20th century this definition became inadequate because of the need for increased precision in timekeeping. In 1956 the second was redefined by the International Committee on Weights and Measures as 1/31,556,925.9747 of the length of the tropical (seasonal) year 1900. In 1967 the 13th General Conference on Weights and Measures provisionally defined the second as 9,192,631,770 cycles of radiation associated with the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium-133 atom (see atomic time). The number of cycles of radiation was chosen to make the length of the defined second correspond as closely as possible to that of the now obsolete astronomically determined second of Ephemeris Time (defined as the fraction of the tropical year given above). As the rate of rotation of the Earth constantly changes, it is necessary to occasionally add (or theoretically to subtract) a second during the year to ensure the atomic timescale Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) stays in synchronization with nature. This represents the sole definition of the second in the International System of Units (SI).