# Latency Is Not a Single Number

DevFeed: [Latency Is Not a Single Number](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/latency-is-not-a-single-number-18197.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://newsletter.francofernando.com/p/latency-is-not-a-single-number>)

Author: Franco Fernando

Published: 2026-09-04T07:08:23Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [The Polymathic Engineer](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/the-polymathic-engineer.md>)

Topics: [Latency](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/latency.md>), [math](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/math.md>)

Tags: [latency](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/latency.md>), [math](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/math.md>)

## AI overview

An article explaining latency through physics and mathematics, including the limits that bound it and why averages can be misleading.

## Source excerpt

What latency really is. The physics and math that bound it, and why the average always lies.