Frequency German physicist Heinrich Hertz. One hertz means that an event repeats once per second. If a TV has a refresh rate of 1 hertz the TV's screen will change (or refresh) its picture once a second. A previous name for this unit was cycles per second (cps). The SI unit for period is the second. A traditional unit of measure used with rotating mechanical devices is revolutions per minute, abbreviated r/min or rpm. 60 rpm equals one hertz. As a matter of convenience, longer and slower waves, such as ocean surface waves, tend to be described by wave period rather
Rayleigh (unit) Rayleigh (unit) The rayleigh is a unit of photon flux, used to measure airglow (auroras, for example). It was first proposed in 1956 by Donald M. Hunten, Franklin E. Roach, and Joseph W. Chamberlain. It is named for John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh (1842–1919). Its symbol is R (also used for the röntgen, an unrelated unit). SI prefixes are used with the rayleigh. One rayleigh (1 R) is defined as a column emission rate of 10 photons per square metre per column per second. Note that rayleigh is an apparent emission rate, as no allowances have been made for