Simple question... Why do alarm clock snooze buttons delay 9 minutes?
 

Why not 10 minutes? That would make more sense to me.

Here's my theory; multiples of nine minutes are hard to add when you're asleep... My alarm went off at 6:30, I've pressed snooze twice, how many more times can I press it before it's 7am? Ahhhhhh! I might as well get up now!
Just a thought.

from:http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/6573065.htm

Clock experts say when snooze alarms were invented, the gears in alarm clocks were standardized. The snooze gear was introduced into the existing mix and its teeth had to mesh with the other gears' teeth. The engineers had to choose between a gear that made the snooze period nine-plus minutes or 10-plus minutes. Because of the gear configuration, 10 minutes on the nose was not an option.

According to these clock historians, engineers chose the shorter snooze, figuring "less than 10 minutes" seemed more punctual and marketable than sending people back to dreamland for "more than 10 minutes." The public became accustomed to this, and clock makers have generally stuck with it.

But not all snooze alarms buzzed every nine minutes. In 1959, Westclox released "drowse" alarms that could be set for either five or 10 minutes of snooze time. Later Westclox marketed clocks with a seven-minute snooze alarm.

Still, nine minutes is the norm.

I did like your theory though, wondash.

cliche: Darn... you beat me to it......

good old fark....

Thanks cliche for that link. My digital alarm clock is about 15 years old. No battery back-up, dim LED, and the radio station ruler no longer lights up. But I keep it because it has a 10 minute snooze! :D

Mine has a seven minute snooze and I've always wondered why there was a difference between seven and nine minutes, but never wondered why it wasn't ten. Great theory, wondash, and thanks for posting the answer, cliche.

Weird thing is, mine snoozes for 6 minutes!

I wonder how much more refreshed I would be with a snooze for 20 straight minutes than hitting the button a second time after 10 minutes.

An old digital one of mine had a feature where you could set the snooze length... that was fun. Until my bro decided it would be funny to reset it to twenty minutes without my knowing about it...

a good question... and a good answer. well said cliche.

I had one with an adjustable snooze timer. Problem is, I'd always set it to 20 minutes in my sleep and wake up way too late.

I read an article (Mens Health possibly?) that they are doing studies to determine if some recent suspicions have any value to them.
That being, waking up to an alarm clock for X number of years will take X number of years off a persons life expectancy.
It'll be interesting to see.

Myself, I don't understand the snooze. A person sets an alarm clock because there is a certain time that he has to wake up. So instead of setting his alarm and hitting snooze for the extra twenty minutes of sleep, why not set his alarm twenty minutes later?
The reason for my dislike of the snooze is that my roommate always gets up before me, and his alarm goes off about five times before he gets up. And of course I wake up each time, each time realizing that I have to go to the bathroom more severely than the time before.
Just set the alarm across the room and get out of bed the first time and turn it off, that way there is no temptation to hit the snooze button.

It's extremely satisfying when the alarm goes off and you realize that you can still sleep some more! At least for me.

Absolutely true for me as well. I love being able to lay back down and relax just a little bit longer.
Thanks for the answer cliche. I never knew geared clocks were ever manufactured with snooze alarms, I've seen quite a few geared clocks and never seen one with a snooze. I just assumed the snooze came with the advent of the digital clock and it had something to do with the way the clock's IC chip was made.

My alarm clock snooze changes everytime you hit the button. So it is never the same, anywhere between a minute and twenty minutes. I sure hate those fu#$ minute snoozes.

well thanks a lot for that, always wondered why it was 9 minutes....

sheesh, now I can go back to bed...

Mine has an adjustable timer. I dunno, ten minutes seems too long. At that point, I'd have fallen back asleep and would probably be in an even fouler mood than when I first awoke.

Maybe it is because the difference between any 2 transposed numbers is always exactly divisable by 9 .....

72 - 27 = 45 ... 45/9 = 5
80 - 08 = 72 ... 72/9 = 8
1623 - 1263 = 360 ... 360/9 = 40

OK, that has nothing to do with alarm clocks...

I have no idea how long my snooze is, but I will check it out tonight. Just one more useless thing I have to do this weekend.

wondash's odd number hypothesis makes sense. my brother's (and my) alarm is set an odd number of minutes ahead
like 27 or something
so that when the alarm goes off and you look at the time or when you just happen to look at the time
you get that "oh shit" feeling and wake up. you hardly ever get wise to the fact that it is set ahead and if you do you can set if differently.
im not sure if it would be considered a good way to wake up for those of you who like a gentle wake up but the feeling of relief that you still have time is nice
actually i kind of feel like its not a healthy way to wake up but i share a room so oh well, i can usually wake up by myself anyway, earlier than the alarm goes off
ive never realized how long the snooze is on my alarm

The only time I'm happy to have more time to sleep is if it's an hour or more. Anything less, I'm, "Crap, I have to get up soon."

mine has an adjustable snooz

it roxors

I must have a wierd alarm, it is only 5 minutes

My roommate had this problem in college, his alarm would go off, he would sleep through it till I woke him up, he would hit snooze and the process would reset.

If he wasn't my best friend... I would have killed him with the alarm.

Ive never hit the snooze button. When it first goes off and I want to sleep more, I'll reset it to some decent length (30 min minimum) or just get up. Sleeping a bit more in 9-minute increments is just plain masochism.

I have always wondered the merit of sleep after the snooze is initially set. I mean -- does your body benefit from this extra 9, 18, or 27 minutes of sleep or would we be the same off if we just got out of bed? Or as someone stated above -- if the longer length of time is beneficial then why not just reset your alarm, time permitting, to a new specified time, say 30 minutes down the road...?

now that is one fucked up clock! The manufacturer must be laughing his arse off...

My snooze button quit working recently, I need a new alarm clock because the snooze is my friend

Well, if I remember correctly from my psych class in high school (wow...so long ago! lol) it had to do with your sleeping cycle. At least that's what my teacher said. If you slept for longer than 10 minutes you would go into the next cycle of sleep and it would be just as hard, if not harder to wake up. That's what I remember him saying, anyway.

Man, what is this? - "The thread that wouldnt die"

HAHAHAHA cool.

I never knew there was this much to say about the snooze button. I dont use mine at all.

Tell me about it. My brother (he is legally blind) bought if for me for christmas a few years ago. So this thing has reall (I MEAN REAL) big numbers on it too. I think he bought it from the CNIB or something. Anyways, I'm thinking I need to get a new one. I'm just too cheap.:D My b/d's coming up, maybe I should ask the little wifey to get "us" another one.

I never knew there was a standard snooze. My alarm has 4 minutes, and Nokia phones have 6 (and you can only snooze them 10 times before they give up).
I use my stereo now...never fails to wake me up, I like the music I'm waking up to, and it's a bitch to reset so I have to get up.

Yeah I have a 6 minute snooze, they should really standardise these things.

Man, I am the oddball out! Mine is 7 minutes.

mine is one god dam hour and useless

this is one interesting thread. its been a good read

Hmm.... if your alarm clock snooze is accompanied by a vibrator and flashing lights, you usually think twice about going through the waking up process more than once or twice.

yea i find that if you set it for 10 minutes before u have to get up, and hit snooze and are sitting there in that half-sleep phase for 10 minutes, you will be alot less tired than if you just set it 10 minutes later and get up and get moving