Millisecond

A millisecond is a tiny piece of time. It is one thousandth of a second. Imagine if one second was like 16 minutes and 40 seconds. A millisecond would be just one tiny part of that.

Many fun things need to know about milliseconds. Computers, phones, and fast cameras all use milliseconds. They help these tools work quickly and catch fast moments.

Here are some cool things that happen in milliseconds:

• 1 ms – the time for light to travel about 34 cm, or for a typical camera flash
• 3 ms – a housefly’s wing flap
• 5–80 ms – a hummingbird’s wing flap
• 8 ms – 1/125 of a second, a common camera shutter speed
• 10 ms – a “jiffy,” a basic time unit in computing

Milliseconds help us understand how fast things move and change. They show us just how quick some moments can be!