Seconds
| Factor (s) | Multiple | Symbol | Definition | Comparative examples & common units | Orders of magnitude |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10−44 | 5.4×10-20 ys = 5.4×10-44 s: One Planck time tP = ≈ 5.4×10-44 s, the time required for light to travel one Planck length, is the briefest physically meaningful span of time. It is the unit of time in the natural units system known as Planck units. | 10−20 ys, 10−19 ys (10−44 s, 10−43 s) | |||
| 10−24 | 1 yoctosecond | ys | Yoctosecond, (yocto- + second), is one septillionth (short scale) of a second. | 0.3 ys: mean life of the W and Z bosons. 0.5 ys: time for top quark decay, according to the Standard Model. 1 ys: time taken for a quark to emit a gluon. 23 ys: half-life of 7H. |
1 ys and less, 10 ys, 100 ys |
| 10−21 | 1 zeptosecond | zs | Zeptosecond, (zepto- + second), is one sextillionth (short scale) of one second. | 7 zs: half-life of helium-9's outer neutron in the second nuclear halo. 17 zs: approximate period of electromagnetic radiation at the boundary between gamma rays and X-rays. 300 zs: approximate typical cycle time of X-rays, on the boundary between hard and soft X-rays. 500 zs: current resolution of tools used to measure speed of chemical bonding |
1 zs, 10 zs, 100 zs |
| 10−18 | 1 attosecond | as | One quintillionth of one second | 12 attoseconds: shortest measured period of time. | 1 as, 10 as, 100 as |
| 10−15 | 1 femtosecond | fs | One quadrillionth of one second | cycle time for 390 nanometre light, transition from visible light to ultraviolet | 1 fs, 10 fs, 100 fs |
| 10−12 | 1 picosecond | ps | One trillionth of one second | 1 ps: half-life of a bottom quark 4 ps: Time to execute one machine cycle by an IBM Silicon-Germanium transistor |
1 ps, 10 ps, 100 ps |
| 10−9 | 1 nanosecond | ns | One billionth of one second | 1 ns: Time to execute one machine cycle by a 1 GHz microprocessor 1 ns: Light travels 12 inches (30 cm) |
1 ns, 10 ns, 100 ns |
| 10−6 | 1 microsecond | µs | One millionth of one second | sometimes also abbreviated µsec 1 µs: Time to execute one machine cycle by an Intel 80186 microprocessor 4–16 µs: Time to execute one machine cycle by a 1960s minicomputer |
1 µs, 10 µs, 100 µs |
| 10−3 | 1 millisecond | ms | One thousandth of one second | 4–8 ms: typical seek time for a computer hard disk 100–400 ms (=0.1–0.4 s): Blink of an eye 18–300 ms (=0.02–0.3 s): Human reflex response to visual stimuli |
1 ms, 10 ms, 100 ms |
| 100 | 1 second | s | 1 s: 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium-133 atom.
60 s: 1 minute |
1 s, 10 s, 100 s | |
| 103 | 1 kilosecond (16.7 minutes) |
ks | 3.6 ks: 3600 s or 1 hour 86.4 ks: 86 400 s or 1 day 604.8 ks: 1 week |
103 s, 104 s, 105 s | |
| 106 | 1 megasecond (11.6 days) |
Ms |
2.6 Ms: approximately 1 month |
106 s, 107 s, 108 s | |
| 109 | 1 gigasecond (32 years) |
Gs |
2.1 Gs: average human life expectancy at birth (2011 estimate) |
109 s, 1010 s, 1011 s | |
| 1012 | 1 terasecond (32 000 years) |
Ts |
6 Ts: time since the appearance of Homo sapiens (approximately) |
1012 s, 1013 s, 1014 s | |
| 1015 | 1 petasecond (32 million years) |
Ps | 7.1–7.9 Ps: 1 galactic year (225-250 million years) 143 Ps: the age of the Earth |
1015 s, 1016 s, 1017 s | |
| 1018 | 1 exasecond (32 billion years) |
Es | 312 Es: Estimated lifespan of a 0.1 solar mass red dwarf star. | 1018 s, 1019 s, 1020 s | |
| 1021 | 1 zettasecond (32 trillion years) |
Zs | 3 Zs: Estimated duration of Stelliferous Era.
9.8 Zs:the lifetime of Brahma in Hindu mythology |
1021 s, 1022 s, 1023 s | |
| 1024 | 1 yottasecond (32 quadrillion years) |
Ys | 1.6416 Ys: Estimated half-life of the "stable" 20983Bi radioactive isotope.
6.616×1050 Ys: Time required for a 1 solar mass black hole to evaporate completely due to Hawking radiation, if nothing more falls in. |
1024 s, 1025 s, 1026 s and more |
Read more about this topic: Orders Of Magnitude (time)
Famous quotes containing the word seconds:
“At this very moment,... the most frightful horrors are taking place in every corner of the world. People are being crushed, slashed, disembowelled, mangled; their dead bodies rot and their eyes decay with the rest. Screams of pain and fear go pulsing through the air at the rate of eleven hundred feet per second. After travelling for three seconds they are perfectly inaudible. These are distressing facts; but do we enjoy life any the less because of them? Most certainly we do not.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)
“You have known your friend so long and loved him so much, and then all of a sudden you are so mad at him, you say, I could just kill you and you still like each other, because you have always been friends and you know in your mind you are going to be friends in a few seconds anyway.”
—Anonymous Twelve-Year-Old. As quoted in Children’s Friendships by Zick Rubin, ch. 3 (1980)
“Watching fifteen seconds of nasal passages unblocking sure beats watching thirty seconds.”
—Barbara Lippert, U.S. advertising critic. As quoted in Newsweek magazine, p. 8 (June 16, 1986)