millisecond

{{short description|One thousandth of a second}}

{{Infobox unit

| name = millisecond

| image =

| caption =

| symbol = ms

| standard = SI

| quantity = time

| units1 = SI units

| inunits1 = {{val|0.001|ul=s}}

}}

A millisecond (from milli- and second; symbol: ms) is a unit of time in the International System of Units equal to one thousandth (0.001 or 10−3 or 1/1000) of a second[https://web.archive.org/web/20180706151550/http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictM.html "Units: M"]. How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement.New Oxford Dictionary or 1000 microseconds.

A millisecond is to one second, as one second is to approximately 16.67 minutes.

A unit of 10 milliseconds may be called a centisecond, and one of 100 milliseconds a decisecond, but these names are rarely used.Google nGrams shows them as much less than 0.5% of "millisecond" [https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=decisecond%2Fmillisecond%2Ccentisecond%2Fmillisecond&year_start=1950&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=10 nGrams comparison of word frequency of centisecond and decisecond vs. millisecond]

To help compare orders of magnitude of different times, this page lists times between 10−3 seconds and 100 seconds (1 millisecond and one second). See also times of other orders of magnitude.

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{{wide image|Logarithmic time scale - milliseconds to years.svg|1200px|Horizontal logarithmic scale marked with units of time}}

Examples

The Apollo Guidance Computer used metric units internally, with centiseconds used for time calculation and measurement.{{Cite web|date=2018-10-18|title=The Moon landings|url=https://ukma.org.uk/why-metric/myths/metric-internationally/the-moon-landings/|access-date=2021-03-03|website=UK Metric Association|language=en}}

{{unreferenced section|date=June 2014}}

  • 1 millisecond (1 ms) – cycle time for frequencykHz; duration of light for typical photo flash strobe;{{Cite web |last=Ovchar |first=Illya |date=2022-04-16 |title=What Is Flash Duration in Photography? |url=https://petapixel.com/what-is-flash-duration/ |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=PetaPixel |language=en}} time taken for sound wave to travel about 34 cm; repetition interval of GPS C/A PN code{{Cite web |last1=Van Sickle |first1=Jan |last2=A. Dutton |first2=John |title=The C/A Code |url=https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog862/node/1742 |access-date=25 February 2025 |website=PennState College of Earth and Mineral Sciences}}
  • 1 millisecond – time taken for light to travel 204.19 km in a single mode fiber optic cable for a wavelength of 1550 nm (frequency: 193 THz).
  • 1 millisecond – nerve conduction velocity (neuron signal firing) happens on the order of milliseconds
  • 1.000692286 milliseconds – time taken for light to travel 300 km in a vacuum
  • 1 to 5 milliseconds – typical response time in LCD computer monitors, especially high-end displays
  • 2 milliseconds – Shift time for a modern Formula One car using a seamless-shift semi-automatic sequential transmission{{Cite web|url=http://www.formula1-dictionary.net/seamless_gearbox.html#:~:text=Bear%20in%20mind%20that%20modern,shift%20in%202%20%2D%203%20milliseconds.|title=Seamless Gearbox}}
  • 2.27 milliseconds – cycle time for pitch A440, the most commonly used pitch for tuning musical instruments
  • 3 milliseconds – a housefly's wing flap. Also the normative speed of sound (an issue in track and field)
  • 3.3 milliseconds – normal delay time between initiation and detonation of a C4 explosive charge
  • 4 milliseconds – typical average seek time for a 10,000 rpm hard disk
  • 5 milliseconds – a honey bee's wing flap{{Cite web |date=2005-11-29 |title=Deciphering the Mystery of Bee Flight |url=https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/deciphering-mystery-bee-flight-1075 |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=California Institute of Technology |language=en}}
  • 5 milliseconds to 80 milliseconds – a hummingbird's wing flap
  • 8 milliseconds – 1/125 of a second, a standard camera shutter speed (125); fastest shifting time of a car's mechanical transmission
  • 10 milliseconds (10 ms) – a jiffy, cycle time for frequency 100 Hz
  • 10.378 milliseconds – rotation period of pulsar B1639+36A{{Cite journal |last=R. Lorimer |first=Duncan |date=18 June 2001 |title=Binary and Millisecond Pulsars at the New Millennium |journal=Living Reviews in Relativity |volume=4 |issue=1 |page=5 |doi=10.12942/lrr-2001-5 |doi-access=free |pmid=28179858 |pmc=5256072 |arxiv=astro-ph/0104388 |bibcode=2001LRR.....4....5L }}
  • 15.625 milliseconds – a two hundred fifty-sixth note at 60 BPM
  • 16.67 milliseconds (1/60 second) – a third, cycle time for American 60 Hz AC electricity (mains grid)
  • 16.68 milliseconds (1/59.94 second) – the amount of time one field lasts in 29.97 fps interlaced video (commonly erroneously referred to as 30 fps)
  • 20 milliseconds – cycle time for European 50 Hz AC electricity
  • 31.25 milliseconds – a hundred twenty-eighth note at 60 BPM
  • 33.367 milliseconds – the amount of time one frame lasts in 29.97 fps video (most common for NTSC-legacy formats)
  • 41.667 milliseconds – the amount of time one frame lasts in 24 fps video (most common cinematic frame rate)
  • 41.708 milliseconds – the amount of time one frame lasts in 23.976 fps video (cinematic frame rate for NTSC-legacy formats)
  • 50 milliseconds – the time interval between gear changes on a Lamborghini Aventador; with a 7-speed single-clutch automated manual transmission
  • 50 milliseconds – cycle time for the lowest audible tone, 20 Hz
  • 60 milliseconds – cycle time for European 16.7 Hz AC electrified railroad power grid
  • 60 milliseconds – the time interval between gear changes on a Ferrari 458 Spider; with a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission
  • 62.5 milliseconds – a sixty-fourth note at 60 BPM
  • 5 to 80 milliseconds – typical latency for a broadband internet connection (important for playing online games)
  • 100 milliseconds – the time interval between gear changes on a Ferrari FXX; with a 6-speed single-clutch automated manual transmission
  • 125 milliseconds – a thirty-second note at 60 BPM
  • 134 milliseconds – time taken by light to travel around the Earth's equator
  • 150 milliseconds – recommended maximum time delay for telephone service
  • 100–400 milliseconds – the time for the human eye to blink{{cite web|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2005/jul/blink-and-you-miss-it|title=Blink and you miss it|date=2005-08-03}}
  • 185 milliseconds – the duration of a full rotation of the main rotor on Bell 205, 212, and 412 helicopters (normal rotor speed is 324 RPM)
  • 200 milliseconds – the time it takes the human brain to recognize emotion in facial expressions
  • 250 milliseconds – a sixteenth note at 60 BPM
  • 400 milliseconds – time in which the fastest baseball pitches reach the strike zone
  • 430 to 500 milliseconds – common modern dance music tempos (120–140 BPM)
  • 495 milliseconds – an approximate average of the round trip time for communications via geosynchronous satellites
  • 500 milliseconds – an eighth note at 60 BPM
  • 770 milliseconds – revolution period of a 78 rpm record
  • 860 milliseconds – average human resting heart cycle time
  • 1000 milliseconds – one second; the period of a 1 Hz oscillator
  • 86,400,000 (24 × 60 × 60 × 1000) milliseconds – one day
  • 604,800,000 (24 × 60 × 60 × 1000 × 7) milliseconds – one week
  • 31,556,925,974.7 (86,400,000 × approximately 365.242) milliseconds – one year
  • 31,556,908,800... or (31,556,925,974.7 × approximately 10) milliseconds – one decade

See also

References

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