Modern Electronic Clock Movements Clock movements are the engines, or electric motors, that manage the rotation and also positioning of the hands for appropriate time informing. Clock movements were typically mechanical as well as analog, but in modern-day times they are almost solely electronic, as well as either analog or digital. Regardless, the function needed come down to the dimension of the angle subtended by each hand at every minute. Clock movements are often referred to as motors, as well as the terms are virtually interchangeable. The force behind a mechanical one was either a coiled spring or a hanging weight causing a flywheel to turn. To stop "self-contained," or runaway turning, pendulums as well as escapement devices were employed, establishing an oscillation that had actually a specifically obtained frequency.