What Is Shake?
A shake is a very small unit used to measure time. It is so short that it is mainly used by scientists when they study very fast events inside atoms, such as nuclear reactions.
Definition
One shake is equal to 0.00000001 seconds. This can also be written as 10 nanoseconds or 10^−8 seconds. In simple words, a shake is a piece of time that is so tiny you cannot notice it in daily life.
Because it is not part of the official SI system, people call it an informal or special unit. It is mostly used in nuclear physics and some computer and simulation work.
History / Origin
The shake unit started during the time of the first nuclear bomb research in the 1940s. Scientists who worked on very fast chain reactions needed a handy way to talk about small bits of time.
The name comes from the old saying “in two shakes of a lamb’s tail”. This saying means “very quickly”. The scientists took the word “shake” from the saying and gave it a clear meaning as a tiny unit of time.
They chose 10 nanoseconds for one shake because it fit well with the timing of steps in nuclear chain reactions, which happen in many small stages, each taking only a few shakes.
Symbol & Abbreviation
The shake is not an official SI unit, so there is no fixed symbol used everywhere. However, in many science papers and notes, people write:
- Name shake
- Possible symbol sh
- Value 1 shake = 10 nanoseconds = 10^−8 seconds
When you see “sh” in a time chart for nuclear reactions, it often means shakes.
Current Use Around the World
The shake is a special purpose unit, so you will not see it on clocks, watches, or in daily timekeeping. It is mainly used in:
- Nuclear physics to describe how fast steps in a chain reaction happen.
- Computer simulations of nuclear explosions and reactors, where events are tracked in tiny time steps.
- High speed electronics and timing studies sometimes use the idea of shakes to talk about very short time periods.
Most countries use seconds and SI prefixes for official work. The shake stays as a helpful word and unit inside some expert fields, especially in the study of nuclear processes.
Example Conversions
Here are some simple conversions to help you understand how small a shake is.
- 1 shake = 0.00000001 seconds
- 1 shake = 10 nanoseconds
- 10 shakes = 0.0000001 seconds = 100 nanoseconds
- 100 shakes = 0.000001 seconds = 1 microsecond
- 1000000 shakes = 0.01 seconds = 1 hundredth of a second
- 100000000 shakes = 1 second
So there are one hundred million shakes in just one second. This shows how incredibly short a single shake is.
Related Units
The shake is related to other time units that are used for very fast events.
- Second (s) the main SI unit for time. 1 second = 100000000 shakes.
- Millisecond (ms) one thousandth of a second. 1 ms = 0.001 s = 100000 shakes.
- Microsecond (µs) one millionth of a second. 1 µs = 0.000001 s = 100 shakes.
- Nanosecond (ns) one billionth of a second. 1 ns = 0.000000001 s. 10 ns = 1 shake.
- Picosecond (ps) one trillionth of a second. Much smaller than a shake. 1 shake = 10000 picoseconds.
Scientists choose the unit that makes their numbers easy to read. For nuclear reactions, shakes and nanoseconds are often useful.
FAQs
What is a shake in simple words?
A shake is a tiny bit of time equal to 0.00000001 seconds. It is used to measure very fast events, mostly inside atoms.
Why did scientists invent the shake?
Scientists studying nuclear chain reactions needed a quick, simple way to talk about very small time steps. The shake made their work and communication easier.
Is a shake an official SI unit?
No. The shake is not part of the SI system of units. It is an informal or special unit mainly used in nuclear science and some technical fields.
How many shakes are in one second?
There are 100000000 shakes in 1 second. That is one hundred million shakes for every single second.
Where is the shake used today?
Today the shake is mostly used in nuclear physics, nuclear engineering, and computer models that copy or study nuclear reactions. You almost never see it in everyday life.
How long is a shake compared to a nanosecond?
One shake is equal to 10 nanoseconds. So if you know a time in nanoseconds, you can divide by 10 to get the time in shakes.