Definitions of Hertz, Kilohertz, Megahertz, Gigahertz, Terahertz
frequency measures
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Definitions of Hertz, Kilohertz, etc.
This article defines and compares frequency measurements expressed in Hertz, Kilohertz kHz, Megahertz MHz, Gigahertz GHz, and Terahertz THz .
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More technically, wavelength is inversely proportional to wave frequency.
Do not confuse wavelength and frequency of an electromagnetic wave with its speed.
All electromagnetic waves move at or close to the speed of light (and do move at the speed of light if measured in a vacuum).
The speed of an electromagnetic wave, expressed in meters per second is equal to wavelength (in meters) x frequency (in oscillations per second or Hertz, abbreviated as Hz).
- Hertz - Hz is defined
as the number of cycles per second of any oscillating or repeating phenomenon, but usually used to define electrical signals, or electrical field frequencies such as those of electromagnetic fields, radio signals, or computer processing clock cycles.
The term Hertz as used in frequency measurement was named for German physicist Heinrich Hertz (1857-1894), who studied electromagnetism, clarified Maxwell's electromagnetic theory of light, and demonstrated the existence of electromagnetic waves.
The term Hertz was established by the International Electrotechnical Commission in 1930.
- Kilohertz - kHz is defined as thousands of cycles per second.
- Megahertz - MHz is defined as millions of cycles per second - 1000 x more than kilo. See our table below.
- Gigahertz - GHz is defined as billions of cycles per second - 1000 x more than mega, or 1,000,000,000 cycles per second - Microwave towers, UHF and EHF transmission - operate in the 1GHz to 100GHz range.
- Terahertz - THz is defined as trillions of cycles per second- Wavelengths at frequencies still higher than EHF - GHz are referred to as Terahertz radiation, but are more familiarly understood as infrared light.
Still higher frequencies become light visible to the human eye. One THz is a very high frequency unit of electromagnetic (EM) wave frequency equal to one trillion hertz (10-to-the-12th power Hz)
Our table (below) provides definitions of various frequencies or oscillation rates expressed in kilohertz, megahertz, gigahertz, or terahertz.
One Hertz - one cycle per second | 10-1 |
Tens of cycles per second | 101 |
Hundreds of cycles per second | 102 Not in common use |
One kilohertz - one thousand cycles per second = 1,000 | 103 |
One megahertz - one million cycles per second = 1,000,000 | 106 |
One gigahertz - one billion cycles per second = 1,000,000,000 | 109 to 1012 (range) |
One terahertz - one trillion of cycles per second = 1,000,000,000,000 | 1012 to 1015 (range) |
The additional Hertz incredibly-high frequencies listed below are not likely to be found in use describing electromagnetic radiation such as those discussed in these articles - these are not in common use, but may be used to describe quantum-mechanical wave functions.
One petahertz - one followed by 15 zeros, or more formally, One One Petahertz PHZ = 1 x 1015 [cycles per second if we are discussing frequency] | 1015 |
One exahertz - one followed by 18 zeros, or One EHZ = 1 x 1018 | 1018 |
One zetahertz -one followed by 21 zeros, or One ZHz = 1 x 1021 | 1021 |
One yotahertz - one followed by 24 zeros, or One YHz = 1 x 1024 | 1024 |
Separately at TABLE of EMR FREQUENCIES we provide a separate listing of the frequency in Hertz of various sources of electromagnetic radiation, ranging from ULF - ultra low frequency sources - through UHF - ultra high frequency electromagnetic radiation sources.
Because the possible effects of electromagnetic fields on humans, other animals, and even materials varies significantly by frequency (and wavelength, distance, and other factors).
Reader Question: how many zeros in a PetaHertz?
I read in [the article above]
“One petahertz = ten followed by 15 zeros”
I Believe it should be :
One petahertz = one followed by 15 zeros
The same mistake is repeated for the definitions of : Exahertz Zetahertz Yotahertz. - Y. [Annon]
Reply:
Thank you for the question on clarifying how to write the value of various high-frequency measurements such as Petahertz, Exahertz, etc.
The correct formula for one PHz is 1 x 10 to the 15th power
Since 1 x anything is identical to that "anything",
10 to the 1th is 10
10 to the 2d power is 10 x 10 = 100 (1 followed by two zeroes) making you correct
1 x 10 to the 15th is exactly equal to 10 to the 15th which you could write as
1,000,000,000,000,000
or 1 followed by fifteen zeroes - you are quite correct and we have amended our article text to be more accurate.
Reader Question: what's the relationship between Hertz and Milligauss?
Albert in the article list below
see EMF ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS & HUMAN EXPOSURE
Electromagnetic field strength (measured in gauss) falls off as the square of the distance. There is no one fixed number since you need to know the field strength and distance.
About your earlier question, Milligauss relates to Hertz about as "inches" relates to "pounds" - they are different measurement scales.
- Milligauss is a measurement of the strength of an electromagnetic field. Gauss is a unit measurement of electromagnetic strength. The use of the word "milli" means we are expressing the field strength in thousandths of one gauss.
A technical definition of gauss from dictionary.com is pretty specific, and I'll give it below. But in a practical sense, if we have standards of exposure to an electromagnetic field that are expressed in gauss, typically we just want to compare our exposure measurement (or estimate) with the number in the standard.
As long as we keep the units of measurement the same, gauss, we can make comparisons.
- Hertz measures cycles per second - one Hertz is one cycle per second.
Unlike gauss that is a measurement unit for the strenght of a specific thing (an electromagnetic field), hertz is a generic frequency measurement.
We could be measuring the frequency with which we hear our alarm clock beeping (maybe one Hertz or one beep per second) or we could be measuring the frequency with which we see a chicken cross the road at my sister's house in Georgia: about 0.0003 Hertz - or about one chicken per hour.
They don't cross very often and some of them who try it get run over.
We could say that Linda's road-crossing-chicken-rate was observed to be 0.0003 Hertz. I calculated that as 1 chicken crossing observed in one hour, or 1/3600 seconds = 0.0002777
Formal definition of gauss
gauss: the centimeter-gram-second unit of magnetic induction, equal to the magnetic induction of a magnetic field in which one abcoulomb of charge, moving with a component of velocity perpendicular to the field and equal to one centimeter per second, is acted on by a force of one dyne;
1 maxwell per square centimeter or 10− 4weber per square meter. Symbol: G. - dictionary.com retrieved 2016/03/29
Formal definition of hertz
hertz, the standard unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one cycle per second. Abbreviation: Hz. - op. cit.
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