Orders of magnitude (time)

Columns: Unit ( s ) | Multiple | Symbol | Definition | Comparative examples & common units
10 | 1 Planck time | t P | Presumed to be the shortest theoretically measurable time interval ( but not necessarily the shortest increment of time - see quantum gravity ) | 10 ys : One Planck time t P = ℏ G / c 5 { \displaystyle { \sqrt { \hbar G/c^ { 5 } } } } ≈ 5.39 × 10 s is the briefest physically meaningful span of time . It is the unit of time in the natural units system known as Planck units | 10 | 1 yoctosecond | ys | Yoctosecond , ( yocto- + second ) , is one septillionth of a second | 0.3 ys : mean lifetime of W and Z bosons 23 ys : Lifespan isotope 7 of hydrogen ( Hydrogen-7 ) 156 ys : mean lifetime of a Higgs Boson | 10 | 1 zeptosecond | zs | Zeptosecond , ( zepto- + second ) , is one sextillionth of one second | 2 zs : representative cycle time of gamma ray radiation released in the decay of a radioactive atomic nucleus ( here as 2 MeV per emitted photon ) 4 zs : cycle time of the zitterbewegung of an electron ( ω = 2 m e c 2 / ℏ { \displaystyle \omega =2m_ { e } c^ { 2 } /\hbar } ) | 10 | 1 attosecond | as | One quintillionth of one second | 12 attoseconds : best timing control of laser pulses | 10 | 1 femtosecond | fs | One quadrillionth of one second | 1 fs : Cycle time for 300 nanometre light ; ultraviolet light ; light travels 0.3 micrometres ( µm ) . 140 fs : Electrons have localized onto individual bromine atoms 6Å apart after laser dissociation of Br 2 . 290 fs : Lifetime of a tauon | 10 | 1 picosecond | ps | One trillionth of one second | 1 ps : mean lifetime of a bottom quark ; light travels 0.3 millimeters ( mm ) 1 ps : typical lifetime of a transition state 4 ps : Time to execute one machine cycle by an IBM Silicon-Germanium transistor | 10 | 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 30 centimetres ( 12 in ) | 10 | 1 microsecond | µs | One millionth of one second | 1 µs : Time to execute one machine cycle by an Intel 80186 microprocessor 2.2 µs : Lifetime of a muon 4-16 µs : Time to execute one machine cycle by a 1960s minicomputer | 10 | 1 millisecond | ms | One thousandth of one second | 1 ms : time for a neuron in human brain to fire one impulse and return to rest 4-8 ms : typical seek time for a computer hard disk | 10 | 1 centisecond | cs | One hundredth of one second | 1-2 cs ( =0.01-0.02 s ) : Human reflex response to visual stimuli 1.6667 cs period of a frame at a frame rate of 60 Hz . 2 cs : cycle time for European 50 Hz AC electricity | 10 | 1 decisecond | ds | One tenth of a second | 1-4 ds ( =0.1-0.4 s ) : Blink of an eye

Example questions:
The millisecond is comparable to operation of what computer component ? | A time unit with the notation zs could be used to measure energy from the natural decay of what ? | The smallest division of time is measured in what units ? | The measurements of one billionth of one second could be used in what fields ?

Answers:
hard disk drives | atomic nuclei | Planck units | telecommunications , pulsed lasers , and related aspects of electronics