Orders of magnitude (time)
An order of magnitude describes the link between two amounts. The difference between each amount step is usually 10, with each order being either 10 times greater or 10 times smaller than the next amount. This makes the scale easy to manipulate using logarithms. For time, the difference between the smallest limit of time, the Planck time, and the next order of magnitude is larger than 10. A second is 60 t, a minute is 60 s, a hour is 60 min, a day is 24 hour, a week is 7 days, a month is 4 weeks, a year is 12 months, a millennium is 1000 years, etc...
Seconds
[change | change source]| Factor (s) | Multiple | Symbol | Definition | Comparative examples & common units | Orders of magnitude |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10⁻⁴³ | 1 Planck Time | p | Planck Time is the time required for light to travel a distance of 1 Planck length in vacuum. | ||
| 10−30 | 1 quectosecond | qs | Quectosecond, (quecto + second), is one nonillionth (in the short scale) of a second. | ||
| 10−27 | 1 rontosecond | rs | Rontosecond, (ronto + second), is one quintillionth (in the long scale) or one octillionth (in the short scale) of a second. | 300 rs: Average lifetime of W and Z bosons | |
| 10−24 | 1 yoctosecond | ys[1] | 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. 1 ys: time for top quark decay.[source?] 1 ys: time taken for a quark to emit a gluon. 91 ys: half-life of lithium-4.[2] |
1 ys and less, 10 ys, 100 ys |
| 10−21 | 1 zeptosecond | zs | Zeptosecond, (zepto + second), is one sextillionth of a 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] | Attosecond is one quintillionth of a second. | 100 attoseconds: shortest measured period of time.[3][4] | 1 as, 10 as, 100 as |
| 10−15 | 1 femtosecond | fs | Femtosecond is one quadrillionth of a second. | cycle time for 390 nanometre light, transition from visible light to ultraviolet | 1 fs, 10 fs, 100 fs |
| 10−12 | 1 picosecond | ps | Picosecond is one trillionth of a second. | 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 | Nanosecond is one billionth of a second. | 1 ns: Time to execute one machine cycle by an Intel Pentium 4 1 GHz 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 | Microsecond is one millionth of a 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 an older minicomputer |
1 µs, 10 µs, 100 µs |
| 10−3 | 1 millisecond | ms | Millisecond is one thousandth of a second. | 50-80 ms: The time taken to blink an eye | 1 ms, 10 ms, 100 ms |
| 10−2 | 1 centisecond | cs | Centisecond is one hundredth of a second. | ||
| 10−1 | 1 decisecond | ds | Decisecond is one tenth of a second. | ||
| 100 | 1 second | s | 1 s: "One Mississippi" said aloud 60 s: 1 minute |
1 s, 10 s, 100 s | |
| 101 | 1 decasecond (10 seconds) |
das | Decasecond is ten seconds. | 6 das: 1 minute | |
| 102 | 1 hectosecond (1.67 minutes) |
hs | Hectosecond is one hundred seconds. | ||
| 103 | 1 kilosecond (16.7 minutes) |
ks | Kilosecond is one thousand seconds. | 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 | Megasecond is one million seconds. | 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 (31.7 years) |
Gs | Gigasecond is one billion seconds. | century = 3.16 Gs ≈ π×109 s millennium = 31.6 Gs ≈ π×1010 s |
109 s, 1010 s, 1011 s |
| 1012 | 1 terasecond (31 700 years) |
Ts | Terasecond is one trillion seconds. | eon = 31.6 Ts ≈ π×1013 s | 1012 s, 1013 s, 1014 s |
| 1015 | 1 petasecond (31.7 million years) |
Ps | Petasecond is one quadrillion seconds. | aeon = 31.6 Ps ≈ π×1016 s
≈ 157.8 Ps = 1.58×1017 s ≈ 5 billion years, the estimated time it'd take for the Sun to expand into a Red giant. |
1015 s, 1016 s, 1017 s |
| 1018 | 1 exasecond (31.7 billion years) |
Es | Exasecond is one quintillion seconds. | 0.43 Es ≈ the best estimate of the age of the Universe | 1018 s, 1019 s, 1020 s |
| 1021 | 1 zettasecond (31.7 trillion years) |
Zs | Zettasecond is one sextillion seconds. | 1021 s, 1022 s, 1023 s | |
| 1024 | 1 yottasecond (31.7 quadrillion years) |
Ys | Yottasecond is one septillion seconds. | 1024 s, 1025 s, 1026 s and more | |
| 1027 | 1 ronnasecond (31.7 quintillion years) |
Rs | Ronnasecond is one octillion seconds. | ||
| 1030 | 1 quettasecond (31.7 sextillion years) |
Qs | Quettasecond is one nonillion seconds. |
Years
[change | change source]| 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 | |
| 10−30 | 1 quectoannum | -- | 1 qa and less, 10 qa, 100 qa |
| 10−27 | 1 rontoannum | -- | 1 ra, 10 ra, 100 ra |
| 10−24 | 1 yoctoannum | -- | 1 ya, 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 brainly = 1.00 × 10−6 a 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 yummi = 1.00 × 10−3 a 1 day = 2.73 × 10−3 a 1 week = 1.91 × 10−2 a |
1 ma, 10 ma, 100 ma |
| 100 | 1 year | year = 1 annum 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 | 1,000,000,000,000 years | 1012 a, 1013 a, 1014 a |
| 1015 | 1 petaannum | 1,000,000,000,000,000 years | 1015 a, 1016 a, 1017 a |
| 1018 | 1 exaannum | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 years | 1018 a, 1019 a, 1020 a |
| 1021 | 1 zettaannum | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years | 1021 a, 1022 a, 1023 a |
| 1024 | 1 yottaannum | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years | 1024 a, 1025 a, 1026 |
| 1024 | 1 ronnaannum | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years | 1027 a, 1028 a, 1029 |
| 1024 | 1 quettaannum | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years | 1030 a, 1031 a, 1032 and more |
References
[change | change source]- ↑ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. Available at: http://www.bartleby.com/61/21/Y0022100.html Archived 2008-03-10 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed December 19, 2007. note: abbr. ys or ysec
- ↑ "Isotope data for lithium-4 in the Periodic Table". periodictable.com. Retrieved 2022-10-01.
- ↑ "Shortest time interval measured". BBC News. 25 February 2004.
- ↑ "Fastest view of molecular motion". BBC News. 4 March 2006.