Final answer:
The claim that a hummingbird's heart beats up to 100 times per minute is false, as their heart rate can reach up to 1,200 beats per minute. When scientists measure the rapid wing beats, they often use milliseconds for precision.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that a hummingbird's heart beats up to 100 times per minute is false. In reality, hummingbirds have the fastest heart rate among birds, with their hearts beating up to 1,200 beats per minute. This frenetic pace is almost 20 times faster than the human resting heart rate and supports the hummingbird's high metabolism and rapid wing flapping, some species of which can exceed 50 wing beats per second.
When measuring such a rapid motion, scientists utilize the second as the fundamental unit of time. Given that hummingbirds can beat their wings more than 50 times per second, the time for one wing beat is less than 0.02 seconds. The precise measurement would likely use the millisecond, which is a thousandth of a second, represented by the metric prefix 'milli-' (factor of 10-3).