Human timescales: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

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/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 work day in most Western countries.
• 86 400 seconds = one day = 24 hours, sleep, awake

1 E5 s:

• 7 days -- one weekend per week

1 E6 s:

• ~30 days length of the month, Biorhythm

1 E7 s, 116 days to 3.2 years:

• 9 month human gestation
• year

1 E8 s, 3.2 to 32 years:

• decade
• human generation

1 E9 s:

• 75 years -- average life span in the first world
• century