In ordinary life, everyone is used to using the word "moment", which means the minimum period of time. This time is different for each person, for some it may last for several seconds, and for others it may take an hour. But how long does a moment actually last?
How many seconds does a moment last
Colloquially, the word "moment" is used to mean a short period of time. Also, this word is used as a term in mathematics, philosophy or physics, for example, moment of inertia, moment of force, moment in time, magnetic moment or moment of random variable. As we can see, this is a rather ambiguous term.
In order to understand how much time is contained in this segment, refer to the Oxford Dictionary, dated back to 1938. The word "moment" was first used by the translator John Trevize. He claims that one hour contains 40 moments. Based on this source, it becomes clear that one moment can be 90 seconds or 1.5 minutes. But it should be noted that a little later, the word "moment" in this dictionary was replaced by "a very short period of time."
The word "moment" is a medieval English measure of time. This measure was used in the XIII century. The sundial showed the movement of the shadow, which was 40 moments in one hour. The hour of sunshine at that time meant 1/12 of the interval between sunset and sunrise.
The first mention of this unit of time can be found in the VIII century in the writings of the Venerable Beda (Benedictine monk of the monastery of Saints Peter and Paul in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria). He described the time interval "moment" as 90 seconds. This was done from a simple calculation - 1 hour was equal to 4 points, which were equal to 10 minutes or 15 parts. And 15 parts were equal to 40 moments. This source was also referred to by other English encyclopedists, for example, Bartholomew English.