What is a jiffy?

A jiffy is a unit of time—about 1/100 of a second. A jiffy is often used in chemistry and physics to discuss time equal to a “light centimeter,” that is, the time required for light to travel a distance of one centimeter. The definition of the jiffy was proposed by the early-twentieth-century American physical chemist Gilbert N. Lewis, who was one of the first scientists to apply principles of quantum physics in chemistry.