G-Shock

Key takeaways

G-Shock belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect G-Shock to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of G-Shock from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

G-Shock is a line of watches manufactured by the Japanese electronics company Casio, designed to resist mechanical stress, shock and vibration. G-Shock is an abbreviation for Gravitational Shock. The watches in the G-Shock line are designed primarily for sports, military and outdoors-oriented activities; most G-Shocks have a chronograph feature, 200 metre water resistance and an alarm, with either a digital display, analogue display or a combination of analogue and digital displays. Other features such as a countdown timer, world clock, and a backlight are included in most models. Newer high-end models in the line also feature GPS, directional, pressure and temperature sensors, radio-controlled time adjustment (known as WaveCeptor or Multi-Band) and Bluetooth time adjustment achieved by connecting the watch to a smartphone via a dedicated application.

History

The G-Shock was conceptualized in 1981 by Casio engineer Kikuo Ibe when he bumped into a pedestrian, and the mechanical watch given to him by his father popped off of his wrist and shattered on the ground. The G-Shock then was conceived as a watch which would have "triple 10" resistance, meaning it would have a battery life of 10 years, have a water resistance of 10 bar and could survive a fall of 10 metres. A team of three individuals was selected by Ibe which was known as "team tough". The team had assembled and tested nearly 200 prototypes but were still not able to achieve the conception criteria. During a visit to a playground, Ibe discovered that in a rubber ball, the centre of the ball does not suffer the effects of the shock during a bounce on a rough surface, which gave him the idea to implement that concept into the watch. With that in mind, the team set out to develop a watch using such a concept and in April 1983, the first G-Shock, the DW-5000C, was launched. The shock-resistant design on the original G-Shock has ten layers protecting the quartz timekeeping module, including a urethane rubber bumper, the stainless steel case, the hardened mineral glass watch crystal, the stainless steel screwed down caseback, and the "floating module" where the quartz mechanism floats free in a urethane foam cradle, with the outer buttons and LCD module attached with oblong button shafts. The strap of the watch is also designed to protect the module during a fall. Initial sales of the G-Shock line were slow in Japan as people preferred dress watches. In order to promote the G-Shock worldwide, the American division of Casio released a commercial in which an ice hockey player used a DW-5200C G-Shock as a hockey puck to demonstrate the toughness of the watch. The commercial gained negative publicity and Casio was accused of false advertising. A TV news channel then set out to conduct live tests on the DW-5200C to check whether it was as tough and durable as advertised. This involved repeating the action shown in the commercial. The watch survived the impact of the hockey stick, and the G-Shock gained popularity among the general public. The popularity of G-Shocks increased throughout the 1990s. By 1998, Casio had released more than 200 different G-Shock models, with worldwide sales at 19 million units. In 1985, Casio released the DW-5500C, which was the first G-Shock to feature a mud-resistant structure. Called the G-Shock-II due to the new construction feature, it was nicknamed "Mudman" by collectors due to its mud resistance capabilities. Casio would then go on to release a mud-resistant line of watches in 1995 which would go on to be called Mudman. In 1989, Casio introduced the AW-500, which was the first G-Shock featuring an analog display with a digital sub display at the six o'clock position. In 1992, Casio released the DW-6100 equipped with a temperature sensor thus making it the first G-Shock to be equipped with a sensor. The watch also featured a resin (plastic) case instead of the original stainless steel case of earlier models for improved shock resistance. This move would transition into most of the models in the subsequent years, with the original G-Shock square design also adopting the same construction. By the early 2000s, the G-2000 model marked the last standard G-Shock to use a stainless steel case, leaving only a few speciality models in the line-up featuring the traditional metal case construction. In 1993, Casio introduced the DW-6300 Frogman, which was the first ISO 6425 certified diver's watch in the G-Shock lineup. The Frogman also marked the start of the MAN or "master of G" line of G-Shocks which was used to introduce new features and functions in the G-Shock lineup. Notable watches which introduced such features are as follows:

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with G-Shock

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what G-Shock claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to G-Shock before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about G-Shock ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of G-Shock

In research: G-Shock appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses G-Shock in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: G-Shock is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Casio brands, Casio watches, Japanese inventions, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for G-Shock outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study G-Shock in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what G-Shock means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain G-Shock out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is G-Shock in simple terms?

G-Shock is a line of watches manufactured by the Japanese electronics company Casio, designed to resist mechanical stress, shock and vibration. G-Shock is an abbreviation for Gravitational Shock.

Why does G-Shock matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study G-Shock?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on G-Shock.