An electron volt, or eV for short, is a measure of energy. It is quite a small amount of energy similar to the amount of energy possessed by a single photon of light. Other forms of radiation have much more energy. On this web-site energies are often quoted in scientific notation. For example 106 eV is equal to 1,000,000 eV. i.e. 1 with 6 zeroes after it. In another example 3x109 eV would be equal to 3 with 9 zeroes after it or 3,000,000,000 eV.
Here are some examples of radiation of different energies.
| Radiation | Energy |
|---|---|
| Photon of light Can be detected by your eye | 1 eV |
| Ultra Violet ray from sun Enough to burn your skin | 10 eV |
| X-Ray Can pass right through your body | 1000 eV = 1 keV |
| Gamma ray detected by the Whipple group's telescope | 1012 eV = 1 TeV |
| Cosmic Ray detected by the | 1015 eV = 1 PeV |
| Cosmic Ray detected by the planned Pierre Auger Observatory | 1020 eV = 100 EeV |
| Highest energy Cosmic Ray ever recorded | 3x1020 eV This is the amount of energy that you would feel if you dropped a bowling ball on your foot from a height of 1 metre! |
| Energy | Shorthand |
|---|---|
| 103 eV = 1,000 eV | Kev = Kilo electron volt |
| 106 eV = 1,000,000 eV | MeV = Mega electron volt |
| 109 eV = 1,000,000,000 eV | GeV =Giga electron volt |
| 1012 eV = 1,000,000,000,000 eV | TeV = Terra electron volt |
| 1015 eV = 1,000,000,000,000,000 eV | PeV = Peta electron volt |
| 1018 eV = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 eV | EeV = Exa electron volt |
| 1021 eV = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 eV | ZeV = Zeta electron volt |