Frae Wikipedia, the free beuk o knawledge
The
seicont
(seembol: s) is a unit o
time
, an ane o the seiven
SI base units
. It is the time taen by 9,192,631,770
cycles
o
radiation
that comes frae
electrons
movin atween twa
virr levels
o the
caesium
-133
atom
.
A seicont is 1/60 o a
meenit
, an 1/3600 o an
oor
an aw.
The
seicont
(
SI
seembol:
s
), whiles abbreviate
sec.
, is the name o a
unit
o
time
, an is the
Internaitional Seestem o Units
(SI)
base unit
o time.
SI prefixes
aften gae thegither wi the wird
seicont
tae denote subdiveesions o the seicont,
e.g.
, the
milliseicont
(ane thoosant o a seicont) an
nanoseicont
(ane thoosand milliont o a seicont). Tho SI prefixes micht can be uised for tae mak multiples o the seicont an aw (sic as “kiloseicont”, or ane thoosand seiconts), sic units are anely uised rarely in practice. Mair commonly met, non-SI units o time sic as the
meenit
,
oor
, an
day
increase by multiples o 60 an 24 (raither nor by pouers o ten as in the SI seestem).
Oreeginally, the seicont wis kent as a "seicont meenit", meanin the seicont minute (i.e. smaw) diveesion o an oor. The first diveesion wis kent as a "prime minute" an is equivalent tae the
meenit
we ken the day.