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Look up nanosecond in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

A nanosecond (ns) is one billionth of a second (10^-9 s).

The word nanosecond is formed by the prefix nano and the unit second. Its symbol is ns.

A nanosecond is equal to 1000 picoseconds or 1/1000 microsecond. Because the next SI unit is 1000 times larger, times of 10^-8 and 10^-7 seconds are typically expressed as tens or hundreds of nanoseconds.

Times of this magnitude are commonly encountered in telecommunications, pulsed lasers and some areas of electronics. Some notable measurements in this range include:

• 1.0 nanoseconds (1.0 ns) – cycle time for radio frequency 1 GHz (1 x 10⁹ Hertz), an inverse unit. This corresponds to a radio wavelength of 0.3 m, as can be calculated by multiplying 1 ns by the speed of light (approximately 3 x 10⁸ m/s) to determine the distance traveled.
• 1.017 nanoseconds (approximately) – time taken for light to travel 1 foot.
• 3.33564095 nanoseconds (approximately) – time taken for light to travel 1 meter in vacuum.^[1] (In air or water light travels slower; see index of refraction)
• 10 nanoseconds – one "shake", approximate time of one generation of a nuclear chain reaction with fast neutrons
• 10 nanoseconds (10 ns) – cycle time for frequency 100 megahertz (1 x 10⁸ Hertz), radio wavelength 3 m (VHF, FM band)
• 12 nanoseconds – half-life of a K meson
• 20–40 nanoseconds – time of fusion reaction in a hydrogen bomb
• 77 nanoseconds – a sixth (a 60th of a 60th of a 60th of a 60th of a second)
• 100 nanoseconds – cycle time for frequency 10 MHz, radio wavelength 30 m (shortwave)
• 333 nanoseconds – cycle time of highest medium wave radio frequency, 3 MHz
• 500 nanoseconds – T1 time of Josephson phase qubit (see also Qubit) as of May 2005

[edit] See also

• Grace Hopper

[edit] References

1. ^ "Official BIPM definition of the meter". BIPM. http://www.bipm.org/en/si/si_brochure/chapter2/2-1/metre.html. Retrieved 2008-09-22. 

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