A nanosecond (ns) is a unit of

time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one billionth of a second, that is, of a second, or 10 seconds. The term combines the

SI prefix The International System of Units, known by the international abbreviation SI in all languages and sometimes pleonastically as the SI system, is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement. ...

nano- Nano (symbol n) is a unit prefix meaning "one billionth". Used primarily with the metric system, this prefix denotes a factor of 10−9 or . It is frequently encountered in science and electronics for prefixing units of time and length. ;Examp ...

'' indicating a 1 billionth submultiple of an SI unit (e.g. nanogram,

nanometre 330px, Different lengths as in respect to the Molecule">molecular scale. The nanometre (international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: nm) or nanometer ( American spelling) is a unit of length ...

, etc.) and ''second'', the primary unit of time in the SI. A nanosecond is equal to 1000

picosecond A picosecond (abbreviated as ps) is a unit of time in the International System of Units (SI) equal to 10−12 or (one trillionth) of a second. That is one trillionth, or one millionth of one millionth of a second, or 0.000 000 000&nbs ...

s or

microsecond A microsecond is a unit of time in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one millionth (0.000001 or 10−6 or ) of a second. Its symbol is μs, sometimes simplified to us when Unicode is not available. A microsecond is equal to 100 ...

. Time units ranging between 10 and 10 seconds are typically expressed as tens or hundreds of nanoseconds. Time units of this granularity are commonly found in

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than tha ...

, pulsed

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The firs ...

s, and related aspects of

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

Common measurements

* 0.001 nanoseconds – one

* 0.5 nanoseconds – the

half-life Half-life (symbol ) is the time required for a quantity (of substance) to reduce to half of its initial value. The term is commonly used in nuclear physics to describe how quickly unstable atoms undergo radioactive decay or how long stable at ...

beryllium-13 Beryllium (4Be) has 11 known Isotope, isotopes and 3 known nuclear isomer, isomers, but only one of these isotopes () is stable and a primordial nuclide. As such, beryllium is considered a monoisotopic element. It is also a mononuclidic elemen ...

. * 0.96 nanoseconds – 100 Gigabit Ethernet Interpacket gap * 1.0 nanosecond – cycle time of an electromagnetic wave with a

frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. It is also occasionally referred to as ''temporal frequency'' for clarity, and is distinct from '' angular frequency''. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) which is ...

of 1 GHz (1

hertz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one her ...

). * 1.0 nanosecond – electromagnetic

wavelength In physics, the wavelength is the spatial period of a periodic wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. It is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase on the wave, such as two adjacent crests, tr ...

of 1 light-nanosecond. Equivalent to 0.3m radio band. * nanoseconds (by

definition A definition is a statement of the meaning of a term (a word, phrase, or other set of symbols). Definitions can be classified into two large categories: intensional definitions (which try to give the sense of a term), and extensional definitio ...

) – time taken by light to travel 1 foot in a vacuum.By definition of the "foot" as exactly 1/3 yards, and of the international yard as "exactly 0.9144 metres", and of the metre (SI unit) defined by the

International Bureau of Weights and Measures The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (french: Bureau international des poids et mesures, BIPM) is an intergovernmental organisation, through which its 59 member-states act together on measurement standards in four areas: chemistry ...

as the "length of the path traveled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299792458 of a second". The time taken by light to travel 1 foot in a vacuum is therefore (1/299792458)x(0.9144/3) seconds, or nanoseconds. * nanoseconds (by

) – time taken by

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 te ...

to travel 1

metre The metre ( British spelling) or meter ( American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its p ...

in a vacuum. * 8 nanoseconds - typical propagation delay of 74HC series logic chips based on HCMOS technology, commonly used for digital electronics in the mid-1980s. * 10 nanoseconds – one " shake", (as in a "shake of a lamb's tail") approximate time of one generation of a nuclear chain reaction with fast neutrons * 10 nanoseconds – cycle time for frequency 100 MHz (1

), radio wavelength 3 m (

VHF Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter. Frequencies immediately below VHF ...

, FM band) * 10 nanoseconds – half-life of

lithium-12 Naturally occurring lithium (3Li) is composed of two stable isotopes, lithium-6 and lithium-7, with the latter being far more abundant on Earth. Both of the natural isotopes have an unexpectedly low nuclear binding energy per nucleon ( for lit ...

* 12 nanoseconds – mean lifetime of a charged K meson * 20–40 nanoseconds – time of fusion reaction in a hydrogen bomb * 30 nanoseconds – half-life of

carbon-21 Carbon (6C) has 15 known isotopes, from to , of which and are stable. The longest-lived radioisotope is , with a half-life of years. This is also the only carbon radioisotope found in nature—trace quantities are formed cosmogenically ...

* 77 nanoseconds – a sixth (a 60th of a 60th of a 60th of a 60th of a second) * 96 nanoseconds – Gigabit Ethernet Interpacket gap * 100 nanoseconds – cycle time for

10 MHz, radio wavelength 30 m ( shortwave) * 299 nanoseconds – half-life of polonium-212 * 333 nanoseconds – cycle time of highest

medium wave Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the dayt ...

radio frequency, 3 MHz * 500 nanoseconds – T1 time of Josephson phase qubit (see also Qubit) as of May 2005 * 1,000 nanoseconds – one

References

;Notes ;Citations

External links

Visual representation of a nanosecond
Grace Hopper explains the nanosecond {{DEFAULTSORT:1 E-9 S Orders of magnitude (time)

Common measurements

See also

References

External links