Convert Nanosecond (ns) to Shake (shake) instantly.
About these units
Nanosecond (ns)
A nanosecond is one billionth of a second (10⁻⁹ s), a timescale critical for modern digital circuits, high-frequency communication, and quantum experimentation. Light travels only about 30 centimeters in a nanosecond—making ns measurements essential in time-of-flight sensors, LIDAR systems, and high-speed oscilloscopes. Computer processor operations often occur at nanosecond intervals; modern CPUs with gigahertz clock speeds execute billions of cycles per second. In memory access and cache latency profiling, nanoseconds provide unparalleled insight into system performance. At this scale, electrical signals behave differently, revealing the importance of impedance, propagation delay, and electromagnetic behavior in modern electronics.
Shake (shake)
A shake is a playful but scientifically important unit equal to 10 nanoseconds. It originated in the Manhattan Project, where physicists needed a convenient term for very short intervals in nuclear chain reactions. A nuclear fission event occurs on the order of a few shakes, making the unit ideal for modeling neutron capture, reaction propagation, and weapon physics. Today, the shake appears in nuclear engineering literature, plasma physics, and astrophysics—any field involving extremely rapid events. Despite its whimsical name, the shake represents a meaningful scientific compromise: short enough for nuclear events, yet still relatable and easy to calculate.