The mechanical clock was invented in China, in 976 A.D. during the Song Dynasty. Chan Ssu-Hsun built a clock using mercury. It was the first working mechanical clock. The importance of mechanical clocks is that they were made for telling time more accurately than water or sun clocks.

When Su Song, a government official went to Laio to meet the emperor on his birthday, he got there one day before he was supposed to. Su Song was very upset with getting there so early so he wanted to make a clock as good as the one in Laio, so they would never make such a mistake again. The Song emperor decided to make a clock with a team of 12 people. The clock took 8 years to build and it was 30 feet high. That clock was one of the first mechanical clocks. When Chang Ssu-Hsun made his first clock it was a mechanical-water clock and did not work perfectly, so he made another kind of clock,, the mechanical clock. The Mechanical-water worked by water falling into spoons in a set time so when some hours passed the hand in the clock moved.

Clocks have now been changed to different sizes, colors and different ways of working. Now the clock is one of the most important parts of life. Right now, many of the clocks are digital which are more accurate than the mechanical. The difference between the digital and the mechanical clocks is that the digital uses microchips and circuits instead of using moving parts which is why it is more accurate. Nowadays, instead of going into buildings or looking at a clock outside in the street, people wear a watch around the wrist which makes it a lot easier to see what time it is. If the clock had never been invented, there would be no organization in anything like school or even out on the street.