Orders of magnitude (time) facts for kids
An order of magnitude describes the link between two amounts. The difference between each 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.
Seconds
| 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. | The shortest length of time that can be described by physics. ≈ 5.4×10−44 s. | 10−44 s | |
| 10−24 | 1 yoctosecond | ys | 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. 1 ys: time taken for a quark to emit a gluon. 91 ys: half-life of lithium-4. |
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. | 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 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 | 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 | 50-80 ms: The time taken to blink an eye | 1 ms, 10 ms, 100 ms | |
| 10−2 | 1 centisecond | cs | |||
| 100 | 1 second | s | 1 s: "One Mississippi" said aloud 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 435 Ps = 4.35×1017 s ≈ 13.8 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 best estimate of the 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 |
Years
| 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 | 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 | --- | 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 |
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Orders of magnitude (time) Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.