Analog clocks use angles to tell time. They have "hands" that rotate around the clock's "face". The position of the hands shows the time. The face of the clock is a flat disk. It will often have the numbers one through twelve on the face to make it easier to read. Analog clocks commonly have two or three hands. If it has two, there is a large hand or "minute hand" and a smaller hand, the "hour hand". Clocks with three hands also have a "second hand". This hand is usually about as long as the minute hand, but much thinner.
Each hand shows the time it is named for and moves around the face of the clock one complete rotation for each movement to the next larger hand. For example, the second hand moves around the face of the clock in 60 seconds. It moves once each second. When it moves all the way around the clock, the minute hand moves forward one space. When the minute hand moves all the way around the face of the clock (which takes 60 minutes), the hour hand moves forward one section. The second and minute hands take 60 movements to move all around the face of the clock, the hour hand only needs 12 movements to do the same.
Digital clocks use numbers to show the time. LCDs and LEDs are common for digital clocks. Unlike analog clocks which are based on 12 hours, digital clocks can use either a 12-hour clock (often with "am" for morning and "pm" for afternoon/night) or a 24-hour clock. Digital clocks are usually smaller and easier to both use and read than analog clocks but they can also be made much larger. New digital clocks can even correct themselves using the internet or radio signals.
There are also clocks that use sound, usually along with a dial or some other means, to show the time. The sound could be as simple as a bell or so complex that it sounds the same as a person. Many clocks that do this are old and are driven by springs or weights rather than batteries or other forms of electric power. Some special clocks are often used by people who are blind or cannot see well enough to read an analog or digital clock. They can also be used by people with mental problems that cause them to be unable to read other clocks.
There are many different types of clocks and watches. They are different in what they are used for, what they can do or how they are made. Examples include:
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is forms of attraction to people. There are many different groups. Some examples are: attraction to a different gender (heterosexuality), attraction to the same gender (homosexuality), attraction to more than one gender (bisexuality), and no attraction any gender (asexuality).
The groups are part of sexual identity. Some people use something such as "pansexual" or "polysexual". Other people use nothing at all. "Androphilia and gynephilia" are an alternative to the gender binary in homosexual and heterosexual. "Androphilia" is attraction to a man or masculinity (any quality or behavior linked to a man). "Gynephilia" is attraction to a woman or femininity. "Sexual preference" overlaps with sexual orientation but is different. A bisexual person may like one gender more than another. "Sexual preference" may also give the idea of a degree of choice. The scientific consensus (position in the community of scientists) is that sexual orientation is not a choice.
Scientists do not know the exact cause of sexual orientation. It is thought that this is a complex combination of genetics, hormones, and environment. Scientists like any biological theory more than any social theory. This is because there is more proof that supports a biological cause of sexual orientation than a social one. There is little proof which gives the idea that early life experiences play a part in connection to sexual orientation.
Sexual orientation is important in biology, psychology, anthropology, history, and law.
Sexual orientation includes heterosexuality, bisexuality, and homosexuality, and asexuality. An asexual has little to no sexual attraction to people. This may be thought of as a lack of a sexual orientation. There is a large amount of discussion over whether or not this is a sexual orientation.
Most definitions of sexual orientation are one of two components. The focus is on the desire of an individual or the partner of the individual. Some people like to use the definition of the individual.
Sexual identity and sexual behavior are connected to sexual orientation but are different. Sexual identity is a concept of self. Sexual behavior is sex with other people. Sexual orientation is connections to other people. An individual may or may not show sexual orientation from behavior. A person who is not heterosexual by sexual orientation and has a heterosexual sexual identity is 'closeted'. This term may show a stage of change in any society that, little by little, attempts to support the sexual minority. In any sexual orientation study, scientists use the terms "concordance" (sexual attraction, sexual behavior, and sexual identity match) or "discordance" (sexual attraction, sexual behavior, and sexual identity do not match)"." Here is an example of discordance. A woman with attraction to women says she is heterosexual and only has sex with men. Sexual orientation (homosexual), sexual identity (heterosexual), and sexual behavior (heterosexual) of the woman do not match.
"Sexual identity" may also describe a perception of the "sex" of a person. "Sexual preference" is almost the same as "sexual orientation". The main difference is "sexual preference" gives the idea of a degree of choice. The Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity of the American Psychological Association says the term supports a "heterosexual bias".
"See also: Androphilia and gynephilia"
"Androphilia" and "gynephilia" (or "gynecophilia") are terms in behavioral science (the study of human and animal behavior) that describe sexual orientation. It is an alternative to the gender binary in homosexual and heterosexual. The terms describe the focus of attraction with no need to credit a sex assignment or gender identity to the person. Other terms such as "pansexual" and "polysexual" also do not make any connection to the person. People may also use terms such as "queer", "pansensual," "polyfidelitous," or "ambisexual".
Some scientists support use of the terms to skirt bias in concepts of human sexuality in the West. Sociologist Johanna Schmidt says that a term like "homosexual transsexual" cannot line up in a society where a third gender is supported. One example would be Samoan Fa’afafine.
Bruce Bagemihl is also against "homosexual transsexual". This is because Bageminl thought this makes it simple to say a straight transgender woman is a homosexual male looking to run from stigma.
"Same gender loving" ("SGL") is a term by African Americans that is the same as homosexual.
Very early writers thought sexual orientation connects to the gender expression of the person. Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, Richard von Krafft-Ebing, Magnus Hirschfeld, Havelock Ellis, Carl Jung, and Sigmund Freud are some of the more famous writers. It was thought that a female person with attraction to female people is always masculine. Just the same, it was thought that a male person with attraction to male people is always feminine. This understanding of homosexuality as sexual inversion was a discussion at the time. By the second half of the 1900s, gender identity was seen as different from sexual orientation. Transgender and cisgender people may be attracted to men, women, or both. A homosexual, heterosexual, or bisexual person may be masculine, feminine, or androgynous. Still, studies by J. Michael Bailey and Kenneth Zucker say most of the gay men and lesbians describe different degrees of not matching gender roles as a child.