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) |
Multiple | Value | Item |
---|---|---|---|
10−18 | 1 attohertz (aHz) | ~2.2978 aHz | The Hubble constant (once in 13.8 billion years) |
10−17 | 10 aHz | ~79 aHz | Supercontinent cycle (about every 400 million years) |
10−16 | 100 aHz | ~137.8 aHz | Once per galactic year (about every 230 million years) |
10−15 | 1 femtohertz (fHz) | ~3 fHz | Sound waves created by a supermassive black hole in the Perseus cluster[1] |
10−14 | 10 fHz | ~31.71 fHz | Once every one million years |
10−12 | 1 picohertz (pHz) | 1.23 pHz | Precession of the Earth's axis (about every 25,700 years) |
10−11 | 10 pHz | ~31.71 pHz | Once per millennium |
10−10 | 100 pHz | ~317.1 pHz | Once per century |
10−9 | 1 nanohertz (nHz) | ~1 nHz | Once per generation (about every 30 years) |
~2.9 nHz | Average solar cycle (about every 11 years) | ||
~3.171 nHz | Once per decade | ||
10−8 | 10 nHz | 11.6699016 nHz | Once in a blue moon[2] |
~31.71 nHz | Yearly (or Earth's orbital frequency) | ||
10−7 | 100 nHz | ~380.5 nHz | Monthly (or the Moon's orbital frequency) |
~413 nHz | Average menstrual cycle (28 days) | ||
10−6 | 1 microhertz (μHz) | ~1.653 μHz | Weekly |
10−5 | 10 μHz | ~11.57 μHz | Daily (or Earth's rotation frequency) |
10−4 | 100 μHz | ~277.8 μHz | Hourly |
10−2 | 1 centihertz (cHz) | ~16.667 mHz | One rpm |
10−1 | 1 decihertz (dHz) | 189 mHz | Acoustic – 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. |
100 | 1 hertz (Hz) | 1 to 1.66 Hz | Approximate frequency of an adult human's resting heart beat |
1 Hz | 60 bpm, common tempo in music | ||
2 Hz | 120 bpm, common tempo in music | ||
~7.83 Hz | Fundamental frequency of the Schumann resonances | ||
101 | 10 hertz | 10 Hz | Cyclic rate of a typical automobile engine at idle (equivalent to 600 rpm) |
12 Hz | Acoustic – the lowest possible frequency that a human can hear[3] | ||
18 Hz | Average house cat's purr | ||
24 Hz | Common frame rate of movies | ||
27.5 Hz | Acoustic – the lowest musical note (A0) playable on a normally-tuned standard piano | ||
50 Hz | Electromagnetic – standard AC mains power (European AC, Tokyo AC), refresh rate of PAL and SECAM CRT televisions | ||
60 Hz | Electromagnetic – standard AC mains power (American AC, Osaka AC), refresh rate of NTSC CRT televisions and standard refresh rate of computer monitors | ||
102 | 100 Hz | 100 Hz | Cyclic rate of a typical automobile engine at redline (equivalent to 6000 rpm) |
261.626 Hz | Acoustic – the musical note middle C (C4) | ||
440 Hz | Acoustic – concert pitch (A above middle C; A4), used for tuning musical instruments | ||
716 Hz | Rotational period of one of the fastest known millisecond pulsars, PSR J1748−2446ad[4] | ||
103 | 1 kilohertz (kHz) | 1 kHz | Usual frequency of a bleep censor |
4.186 kHz | Acoustic – the highest musical note (C8) playable on a normally-tuned standard piano | ||
8 kHz | ISDN sampling rate | ||
104 | 10 kHz | 14 kHz | Acoustic – the typical upper limit of adult human hearing |
17.4 kHz | Acoustic – a frequency known as the Mosquito, which is generally only audible to those under the age of 24. | ||
25.1 kHz | Acoustic – G10, the highest pitch sung by Georgia Brown, who has a vocal range of 8 octaves. | ||
44.1 kHz | Common audio sampling frequency | ||
105 | 100 kHz | 740 kHz | The clock speed of the world's first commercial microprocessor, the Intel 4004 (1971) |
106 | 1 megahertz (MHz) | 530 kHz to 1.710 MHz | Electromagnetic – AM radio broadcasts |
1 MHz to 8 MHz | Clock speeds of early home/personal computers (mid-1970s to mid-1980s) | ||
107 | 10 MHz | 13.56 MHz | Electromagnetic – near field communication |
108 | 100 MHz | 88 MHz to 108 MHz | Electromagnetic – FM radio broadcasts |
902 to 928 MHz | Electromagnetic – common cordless telephone frequency in the US | ||
109 | 1 gigahertz (GHz) | 1.42 GHz | Electromagnetic – the hyperfine transition of hydrogen, also known as the hydrogen line or 21 cm line |
2.4 GHz | Electromagnetic – microwave ovens, wireless LANs and cordless phones (starting in 1998) | ||
2.6–3.8 GHz | A common desktop CPU speed as of 2014 | ||
5.8 GHz | Electromagnetic – cordless telephone frequency introduced in 2003 | ||
1010 | 10 GHz | 3 GHz to 30 GHz | Electromagnetic – super high frequency |
60 GHz | Electromagnetic – 60 GHz Wi-Fi (WiGig) introduced in 2010 | ||
1011 | 100 GHz | 160.2 GHz | Electromagnetic – peak of cosmic microwave background radiation |
845 GHz | Fastest transistor (December 2006).[5][6] | ||
1012 | 1 terahertz (THz) | The terahertz gap | |
1013 | 10 THz | 21 THz to 33 THz | Electromagnetic – infrared light used in thermal imaging, for example for night vision |
31.5 THz | Electromagnetic – peak of black-body radiation emitted by human body | ||
1014 | 100 THz | 400 THz to 790 THz | Electromagnetic – visible light, from red to violet |
1015 | 1 petahertz (PHz) | 2.47 PHz | Electromagnetic – Lyman-alpha line |
1016 | 10 PHz | 30 PHz | Electromagnetic – X-rays |
1017 | 100 PHz | ||
1018 | 1 exahertz (EHz) | ||
1019 | 10 EHz | ||
1020 | 100 EHz | 300 EHz + | Electromagnetic – gamma rays |
1021 | 1 zettahertz (ZHz) | 36 ZHz | Resonance width of the rho meson |
1024 | 1 yottahertz (YHz) | ||
1027 | 1 ronnahertz (RHz) | 3.9 RHz | Highest energy (16 TeV) gamma ray detected, from Markarian 501 |
1030 | 1 quettahertz (QHz) | ||
1043 | 10 trillion QHz | 18.5 trillion QHz | The unit of inverse time (or frequency) in the system of Planck units |