Scientific pitch notation creates a linear pitch space in which an octave spans 12 semitones, where each semitone is the distance between adjacent keys of the piano keyboard. Distance in this space corresponds to musical pitch distance in an equal-tempered scale; 2 semitones being a whole step, 1 semitone being a half step. An equal-tempered semitone can also be subdivided further into 100 cents. Each cent is semitone or octave. This measure of pitch allows the expression of "microtones" not found on standard piano keyboards. The notation is sometimes used in the context of meantone temperament, and does not always assume equal temperament
Regular tuning and temperament itself and its sharpened version, the chromatic semitone, is 7"f" − 4 of an octave. The common size of the intervals C–D, D–E, F–G, G–A and A–B, the whole tone, is the sum of the diatonic and chromatic semitones, or 2"f" − 1 of an octave. The diatonic semitone is larger than, smaller than, or equal to, the chromatic semitone according as "f" is less than, greater than, or equal to, 7/12. In the last case, the diatonic and chromatic semitones are both 1/12 of an octave, exactly half the size of a tone, and the tuning is 12-tone equal