The King's clock fails to keep time, and because you designed it, he's holding you responsible. Examining the spring-ball system you used as the central timekeeping oscillator, you realize that a simple pendulum might be more reliable, and there happens to be a bit of thin, strong wire handy. Unfortunately, you don't have any way of timing the oscillations, nor can you remember what the period is supposed to be. You don't even have a ruler to measure the wire for the pendulum, and there is not enough wire on hand to rely on trial and error. You suddenly realize that all you need to do is observe how far the ball stretches the spring when the spring is held vertically! You calm the King's wrath by putting your new design for the pendulum timekeeping mechanism in operation.