science

Picosecond

Picosecond is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Picosecond rather than just read about it. In short: A picosecond (abbreviated as ps) is a unit of time in the International System of Units (SI) equal to 10−12 or 1⁄1 000 000 000 000 (one trillionth) of a second. That is one trillionth, or one millionth of one millionth of a second, or 0.000 000 000 001 seconds.

Key takeaways

Picosecond belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Picosecond to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Picosecond from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A picosecond (abbreviated as ps) is a unit of time in the International System of Units (SI) equal to 10−12 or 1⁄1 000 000 000 000 (one trillionth) of a second. That is one trillionth, or one millionth of one millionth of a second, or 0.000 000 000 001 seconds. A picosecond is to one second, as one second is to approximately 31,688.76 years. Multiple technical approaches achieve imaging within single-digit picoseconds: for example, the streak camera or intensified CCD (ICCD) cameras are able to picture the motion of light. One picosecond is equal to 1000 femtoseconds, or 1/1000 nanoseconds. Because the next SI unit is 1000 times larger, measurements of 10−11 and 10−10 second are typically expressed as tens or hundreds of picoseconds. Some notable measurements in this range include:

1.0 picoseconds (1.0 ps) – cycle time for electromagnetic frequency 1 terahertz (THz), an inverse unit. This corresponds to a wavelength of 0.3 mm, as can be calculated by multiplying 1 ps by the speed of light (approximately 3 × 108 m/s) to determine the distance traveled. 1 THz is in the far infrared. 1 picosecond – time taken by light in vacuum to travel approximately 0.30 mm 1 picosecond – half-life of a bottom quark ~1 picosecond – lifetime of a single H3O+ (hydronium) ion in water at 20 °C picoseconds to nanoseconds – phenomena observable by dielectric spectroscopy 1.2 picoseconds – switching time of the world's fastest transistor (845 GHz, as of 2006) 1.7 picoseconds – rotational correlation time of water 3.3 picoseconds (approximately) – time taken for light to travel 1 millimeter 10 picoseconds after the Big Bang – electromagnetism separates from the other fundamental forces 34 picoseconds – signal rise time (20% to 80%) of a SFP+ transmitter for 10 Gigabit Ethernet. 10 to 150 picoseconds – rotational correlation times of a molecule (184 g/mol) from hot to frozen water 100 picoseconds – Unit Interval of a 10 Gbit/s serial communication link, such as USB 3.1. 108.7827757 picoseconds – transition time between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom at absolute zero 330 picoseconds (approximately) – the time it takes a common 3.0 GHz computer CPU to complete a processing cycle

See also SI unit Second Nanosecond Microsecond Millisecond Jiffy (time) Orders of magnitude (time)

References

External links National Institute for Standards and Technology Glossary

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Picosecond

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Picosecond claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Picosecond before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Picosecond ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Picosecond

In research: Picosecond appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Picosecond in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Picosecond is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Orders of magnitude (time), so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Picosecond outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Picosecond in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Picosecond means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Picosecond out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Picosecond in simple terms?

Why does Picosecond matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Picosecond?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Picosecond.