Millisecond

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 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. 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.

See also: Other orders of magnitude of time.

Horizontal logarithmic scale marked with units of time

Examples

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• 1 millisecond (1 ms) – cycle time for frequency 1 kHz; duration of light for typical photo flash strobe; time taken for sound wave to travel about 34 cm; repetition interval of GPS C/A PN code
• 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
• 2.27 milliseconds – cycle time for pitch A440, the most commonly used pitch for tuning musical instruments
• 3 milliseconds – a housefly's wing flap
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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

• International System of Units
• Second
• Microsecond
• Nanosecond
• Picosecond
• Femtosecond
• Attosecond

References

External links

Look up millisecond in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)