Human timescales - Definition

This is a table of time periods and frequencies relevant to human beings.

0.1 to 0.2 s:

• 0.1 reaction time, blinking
• 0.15 seconds -- recommended maximum time delay for telephone service

0.2 to 1 s

• 0.2 to 0.67 seconds -- a beat of modern dance music
• average reading or talking speed 120 words/min is 0.5 s/word
• 1/70 to 1/120 min = 0.5 to 1 s - heart rate period, frequency 2 to 1 Hertz
• Sensory memory up to 1 s.

1-10 s:

• breathing period
• reading/talking speed, 1-5 s/sentence
• Short term memory up to 10 to 15 s

10-100 s

• 60 seconds = one minute

1 E3 s:

• 3600 seconds = one hour, one lesson

1 E4 s:

• 28,600 seconds = 8 hours -- one workday in most Western countries
• 86,400 seconds = one day = 24 hours, sleep, awake

1 E5 s:

• 604,800 seconds = week = 7 days (with one weekend)

1 E6 s:

• ~30 days length of the month, Biorhythm

1 E7 s, 116 days to 3.2 years:

• 9 month human gestation
• 3.156 E7 seconds = year

1 E8 s, 3.2 to 32 years:

• decade
• human generation

1 E9 s:

• 2.4 E9 seconds = 75 years -- average life span in the first world
• 3.156 E9 seconds = century

See also

• cycles
• frequency
• hertz
• human scale
• orders of magnitude (time)
• rhythm
• tempo