Orders of magnitude (frequency)

The following list illustrates various frequencies, measured in hertz, according to decade in the order of their magnitudes, with the negative decades illustrated by events and positive decades by acoustic or electromagnetic uses.

Factor
(Hz)
MultipleValueItem
10−181 attohertz (aHz)~2.2978 aHzThe Hubble constant (once in 13.8 billion years)
10−1710 aHz~79 aHzSupercontinent cycle (about every 400 million years)
10−16100 aHz~137.8 aHzOnce per galactic year (about every 230 million years)
10−151 femtohertz (fHz)~3 fHzSound waves created by a supermassive black hole in the Perseus cluster[1]
10−1410 fHz~31.71 fHzOnce every one million years
10−121 picohertz (pHz)1.23 pHzPrecession of the Earth's axis (about every 25,700 years)
10−1110 pHz~31.71 pHzOnce per millennium
10−10100 pHz~317.1 pHzOnce per century
10−91 nanohertz (nHz)~1 nHzOnce per generation (about every 30 years)
~2.9 nHzAverage solar cycle (about every 11 years)
~3.171 nHzOnce per decade
10−810 nHz11.6699016 nHzOnce in a blue moon[2]
~31.71 nHzYearly (or Earth's orbital frequency)
10−7100 nHz~380.5 nHzMonthly (or the Moon's orbital frequency)
~413 nHzAverage menstrual cycle (28 days)
10−61 microhertz (μHz)~1.653 μHzWeekly
10−510 μHz~11.57 μHzDaily (or Earth's rotation frequency)
10−4100 μHz~277.8 μHzHourly
10−21 centihertz (cHz)~16.667 mHzOne rpm
10−11 decihertz (dHz)189 mHzAcoustic – frequency of G−7, the lowest note sung by the singer with the deepest voice in the world, Tim Storms. His vocal cords vibrate 1 time every 5.29 seconds.
1001 hertz (Hz)1 to 1.66 HzApproximate frequency of an adult human's resting heart beat
1 Hz60 bpm, common tempo in music
2 Hz120 bpm, common tempo in music
~7.83 HzFundamental frequency of the Schumann resonances
10110 hertz10 HzCyclic rate of a typical automobile engine at idle (equivalent to 600 rpm)
12 HzAcoustic – the lowest possible frequency that a human can hear[3]
18 HzAverage house cat's purr
24 HzCommon frame rate of movies
27.5 HzAcoustic – the lowest musical note (A0) playable on a normally-tuned standard piano
50 HzElectromagnetic – standard AC mains power (European AC, Tokyo AC),
refresh rate of PAL and SECAM CRT televisions
60 HzElectromagnetic – standard AC mains power (American AC, Osaka AC),
refresh rate of NTSC CRT televisions and standard refresh rate of computer monitors
102100 Hz100 HzCyclic rate of a typical automobile engine at redline (equivalent to 6000 rpm)
261.626 HzAcoustic – the musical note middle C (C4)
440 HzAcoustic – concert pitch (A above middle C; A4), used for tuning musical instruments
716 HzRotational period of one of the fastest known millisecond pulsars, PSR J1748−2446ad[4]
1031 kilohertz (kHz)1 kHzUsual frequency of a bleep censor
4.186 kHzAcoustic – the highest musical note (C8) playable on a normally-tuned standard piano
8 kHzISDN sampling rate
10410 kHz14 kHzAcoustic – the typical upper limit of adult human hearing
17.4 kHzAcoustic – a frequency known as the Mosquito, which is generally only audible to those under the age of 24.
25.1 kHzAcoustic – G10, the highest pitch sung by Georgia Brown, who has a vocal range of 8 octaves.
44.1 kHzCommon audio sampling frequency
105100 kHz740 kHzThe clock speed of the world's first commercial microprocessor, the Intel 4004 (1971)
1061 megahertz (MHz)530 kHz to 1.710 MHzElectromagnetic – AM radio broadcasts
1 MHz to 8 MHzClock speeds of early home/personal computers (mid-1970s to mid-1980s)
10710 MHz13.56 MHzElectromagnetic – near field communication
108100 MHz88 MHz to 108 MHzElectromagnetic – FM radio broadcasts
902 to 928 MHzElectromagnetic – common cordless telephone frequency in the US
1091 gigahertz (GHz)1.42 GHzElectromagnetic – the hyperfine transition of hydrogen, also known as the hydrogen line or 21 cm line
2.4 GHzElectromagnetic – microwave ovens, wireless LANs and cordless phones (starting in 1998)
2.6–3.8 GHzA common desktop CPU speed as of 2014
5.8 GHzElectromagnetic – cordless telephone frequency introduced in 2003
101010 GHz3 GHz to 30 GHzElectromagnetic – super high frequency
60 GHzElectromagnetic – 60 GHz Wi-Fi (WiGig) introduced in 2010
1011100 GHz160.2 GHzElectromagnetic – peak of cosmic microwave background radiation
845 GHzFastest transistor (December 2006).[5][6]
10121 terahertz (THz)The terahertz gap
101310 THz21 THz to 33 THzElectromagnetic – infrared light used in thermal imaging, for example for night vision
31.5 THzElectromagnetic – peak of black-body radiation emitted by human body
1014100 THz400 THz to 790 THzElectromagnetic – visible light, from red to violet
10151 petahertz (PHz)2.47 PHzElectromagnetic – Lyman-alpha line
101610 PHz30 PHzElectromagnetic – X-rays
1017100 PHz
10181 exahertz (EHz)
101910 EHz
1020100 EHz300 EHz +Electromagnetic – gamma rays
10211 zettahertz (ZHz)36 ZHzResonance width of the rho meson
10241 yottahertz (YHz)
10271 ronnahertz (RHz)3.9 RHzHighest energy (16 TeV) gamma ray detected, from Markarian 501
10301 quettahertz (QHz)
104310 trillion QHz18.5 trillion QhzThe unit of inverse time (or frequency) in the system of Planck units

See also

References