Orders of magnitude (time)

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[edit] Seconds

Orders of magnitude (time)
Factor (s) Multiple Symbol Definition Comparative examples & common units Orders of magnitude
10−44 tP Planck time is the unit of time of the natural units system known as Planck units.[1] The shortest or earliest meaningful interval of time that theoretical physics can describe and consequently the youngest the known universe can be measured, after the Big Bang went off. ≈ 5.4 × 10−44 s. 10−44 s
10−24 1 yoctosecond ys[2] Yoctosecond, (yocto + second), is one quadrillionth (in the long scale) or one septillionth (in the short scale) of a second. 0.3 ys: mean life of the W and Z bosons.[citation needed]
1 ys: time for top quark decay.[citation needed]
1 ys: time taken for a quark to emit a gluon.
91 ys: half-life of lithium-4.[citation needed]
1 ys and less, 10 ys, 100 ys
10−21 1 zeptosecond zs Zeptosecond, (zepto + second), is one trillionth of one billionth 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
1 zs, 10 zs, 100 zs
10−18 1 attosecond as 100 attoseconds: shortest measured period of time.[3][4] 1 as, 10 as, 100 as
10−15 1 femtosecond fs cycle time for 390 nanometre light, transition from visible light to ultraviolet 1 fs, 10 fs, 100 fs
10−12 1 picosecond ps 1 ps: half-life of a bottom quark
4 ps: Time to execute one machine cycle by an IBM Silicon-Germanium transistor (supercomputer)
1 ps, 10 ps, 100 ps
10−9 1 nanosecond ns 1 ns: Time to execute one machine cycle by an Intel Pentium 4 1GHz microprocessor
1 ns: Light travels 12 inches (30 cm)
1,000,000,000 nanoseconds: 1 second
1 ns, 10 ns, 100 ns
10−6 1 microsecond µs 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 an older minicomputer
1 µs, 10 µs, 100 µs
10−3 1 millisecond ms 4-8 ms: typical seek time for a computer hard disk
50-80 ms: Blink of an eye
150-300 ms: Human reflex response to visual stimuli
1 ms, 10 ms, 100 ms
10−2 1 centisecond cs
100 1 second s 1 s: "One Mississippi" said aloud
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.[5]
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 month = 2.6 x 106 s
year = 31.6 Ms = 107.50 s ≈ π x 107 s
106 s, 107 s, 108 s
109 1 gigasecond
(32 years)
Gs century = 3.16 Gs ≈ π × 109 s
millennium = 31.6 Gs ≈ π × 1010 s
109 s, 1010 s, 1011 s
1012 1 terasecond
(32 000 years)
Ts eon = 31.6 Ts ≈ π × 1013 s 1012 s, 1013 s, 1014 s
1015 1 petasecond
(32 million years)
Ps aeon = 31.6 Ps ≈ π × 1016 s
430 Ps = 4.3 × 1017 s ≈ 13.7 billion years, the approximate age of the Universe
1015 s, 1016 s, 1017 s
1018 1 exasecond
(32 billion years)
Es 0.43 Es ≈ the approximate age of the Universe 1018 s, 1019 s, 1020 s
1021 1 zettasecond
(32 trillion years)
Zs 1021 s, 1022 s, 1023 s
1024 1 yottasecond
(32 quadrillion years)
Ys 1024 s, 1025 s, 1026 s and more

[edit] Years

Orders of magnitude (time)
Factor (a) Multiple common units orders of magnitude
10−50 Planck time, the shortest physically meaningful interval of time ≈ 1.71 × 10−50 a 10−50 a
10−24 1 yoctoannum -- 1 ya and less, 10 ya, 100 ya
10−21 1 zeptoannum -- 1 za, 10 za, 100 za
10−18 1 attoannum -- 1 aa, 10 aa, 100 aa
10−15 1 femtoannum -- 1 fa, 10 fa, 100 fa
10−12 1 picoannum -- 1 pa, 10 pa, 100 pa
10−9 1 nanoannum 1 second = 3.17 × 10-8 a ≈ 10-7.50 a 1 na, 10 na, 100 na
10−6 1 microannum 1 minute = 1.90 × 10-6 a
1 hour = 1.40 × 10-4 a
1 ua, 10 ua, 100 ua
10−3 1 milliannum 1 day = 2.73 × 10-3 a
1 week = 1.91 × 10-2 a
1 ma, 10 ma, 100 ma
100 1 annum 1 average year = 1 annum (= 365.25 days)
decade = 10 anna
century = 100 anna
1 a, 10 a, 100 a
103 1 kiloannum millennium = 1000 anna 103 a, 104 a, 105 a
106 1 megaannum epoch = 1,000,000 anna 106 a, 107 a, 108 a
109 1 gigaannum aeon = 1,000,000,000 anna
13.7 Ga = 1.37×1010 a ≈ 13.7 billion years, the approximate age of the Universe
109 a, 1010 a, 1011 a
1012 1 teraannum --- 1012 a, 1013 a, 1014 a
1015 1 petaannum --- 1015 a, 1016 a, 1017 a
1018 1 exaannum -- 1018 a, 1019 a, 1020 a
1021 1 zettaannum -- 1021 a, 1022 a, 1023 a
1024 1 yottaannum -- 1024 a, 1025 a, 1026 and more

The pages linked in the right-hand column contain lists of times that are of the same order of magnitude (power of ten). Rows in the table represent increasing powers of a thousand (3 orders of magnitude).

Conversion from year to second is year × 31 557 600 using the Julian year. Conversion from log10 year to log10 second is approximately log10 year + 7.50. Example conversion; 1 year = 100 year = 100 + 7.50 seconds = 100.50 + 7s = 3.16 * 107s.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Wikipedia contributors. Planck time. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. December 7, 2007, 05:55 UTC. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Planck_time&oldid=176315682. Accessed December 19, 2007.
  2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. Available at: http://www.bartleby.com/61/21/Y0022100.html. Accessed December 19, 2007. note: abbr. ys or ysec
  3. ^ "Shortest time interval measured". BBC News. 25 February 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3486160.stm. 
  4. ^ "Fastest view of molecular motion". BBC News. 4 March 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4766842.stm. 
  5. ^ http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/leapsec.html
Orders of magnitude
area angular velocity charge currency data density energy
frequency length magnetic field mass numbers power pressure
specific energy density specific heat capacity speed temperature time volume
Conversion of units
physical unit SI SI base unit SI derived unit SI prefix Planck units
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