List of examples of lengths explained
See main article: Orders of magnitude (length).
This is a list of examples of lengths, in metres in order to give an understanding of lengths.
Shorter than 1 ym
- metres = qm = the Planck length
- metres = 1 qm = 1 quectometre, the smallest named subdivision of the metre in the SI base unit of length.
- metres = 1 rm = 1 rontometre = quectometres
1 ym to 1 zm
1 zm to 1 am
- metres = 1 zm = 1 zeptometre = yoctometres
- metres = radius of effective cross section for a 20 GeV neutrino scattering off a nucleon[2]
- metres = radius of effective cross section for a 250 GeV neutrino scattering off a nucleon[2]
- metres = 10 zm
- metres = 100 zm
- 310 zm — de Broglie wavelength of protons at the Large Hadron Collider (4 TeV as of 2012)
1 am to 1 fm
- metres = 1 am = 1 attometre = zeptometres
- 1 am — sensitivity of the LIGO detector for gravitational waves
- metres = 10 am
- metres = 100 am
- 0.85 fm — approximate proton radius[3]
1 fm to 1 pm
1 picometre
Lengths between 10−12 and 10−11 m (1 and 10 pm).
10 picometres
Lengths between 10−11 and 10−10 m (10 pm and 100 pm).
100 picometres
Lengths between 10−10 and 10−9 m (100 pm and 1 nm).
10 nanometres 1x10−9m
To help compare different orders of magnitude this page lists lengths between 10−8 and 10−7 m (10 and 100 nm).
- 10 nm = 10 nanometres = 10−8 metres
- 10 nm — lower size of tobacco smoke[12]
- 10 nm Shortest extreme ultraviolet wavelength or longest X-ray wavelength[13]
- 11 nm — the average half-pitch of a memory cell speculated to be manufactured in 2015.
- 16 nm — technology is projected to be reached by semiconductor companies in the 2013 timeframe
- 18 nm — diameter of tobacco mosaic virus[14]
- 20 nm — width of bacterial flagellum[15]
- 20 nm to 80 nm — thickness of cell wall in Gram-positive bacteria[16]
- 22 nm — Smallest feature size of production microprocessors in September 2009[17]
- 22 nm — the average half-pitch of a memory cell expected to be manufactured at around the 2011–2011 time frame.
- 30 nm — lower size of cooking oil smoke[12]
- 32 nm — the average half-pitch of a memory cell manufactured at around the 2009–2010 time frame.
- 45 nm — the average half-pitch of a memory cell manufactured at around the 2007–2008 time frame.
- 50 nm — upper size for airborne virus particles[12]
- 50 nm — flying height of the head of a hard disk[18]
- 65 nm — the average half-pitch of a memory cell manufactured at around the 2005–2006 time frame.
- 90 nm — the average half-pitch of a memory cell manufactured at around the 2002–2003 time frame.
- (ranges from 7 to 3000 nanometres)[12]
100 nanometres
Lengths between 10−7 and 10−6 m (100 nm and 1 μm).
- 100 nm — greatest particle size that can fit through a surgical mask[19]
- 120 nm — diameter of a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) [20]
- 125 nm — standard depth of pits on compact discs (width: 500 nm, length: 850 nm to 3.5 μm)
- 180 nm — typical length of the rabies virus
- 200 nm — typical size of a Mycoplasma bacterium, among the smallest bacteria
- 300-400 nm — near ultraviolet wavelength
- 400–420 nm — wavelength of violet light
- 420–440 nm — wavelength of indigo light
- 440–500 nm — wavelength of blue light
- 500–520 nm — wavelength of cyan light
- 520–565 nm — wavelength of green light
- 565–590 nm — wavelength of yellow light
- 590–625 nm — wavelength of orange light
- 625–700 nm — wavelength of red light
- 700–1400 nm — wavelength of near-infrared radiation
See also: colour and optical spectrum.
1 micrometre
To help compare different orders of magnitude this page lists some items with lengths between 10−6 and 10−5 m (between 1 and 10 micrometres, or μm).
10 micrometres
To help compare different orders of magnitude, this page lists lengths between 10−5 and 10−4 m (10 μm and 100 μm).
100 micrometres
To help compare different orders of magnitude, this page lists lengths between 10−4 and 10−3 m (100 μm and 1 mm).
- 100 μm – 1/10 of a millimetre
- 100 μm – 0.00394 inches
- 100 μm – average diameter of a strand of human hair[26]
- 100 μm – thickness of a coat of paint
- 100 μm – length of a dust particle
- 120 μm – diameter of a human ovum
- 170 μm – length of the largest mammalian sperm cell (rat)[28]
- 181 μm – maximum width of a strand of human hair[26]
- 100–400 μm – length of Demodex mites living in human hair follicles
- 200 μm – typical length of Paramecium caudatum, a ciliate protist
- 250–300 μm – length of a dust mite[29]
- 340 μm – length of a single pixel on a 17-inch monitor with a resolution of 1024×768
- 500 μm – typical length of Amoeba proteus, an amoeboid protist
- 560 μm - thickness of the central area of a human cornea[30]
- 760 μm – thickness of a credit card
1 millimeter
To help compare different orders of magnitude this page lists lengths between 10−3 and 10−2 m (1 mm and 1 cm).
- 1.0 mm — of a metre
- 1.0 mm — inches or (exactly)
- 1.0 mm — side of square of area 1 mm2
- 1.0 mm — diameter of a pinhead
- 1.5 mm — length of average flea
- 2.54 mm — distance between pins on old DIP (dual-inline-package) electronic components
- 5 mm — length of average red ant
- 5.56×45mm NATO — standard ammunition size
- 7.62×51mm NATO — common military ammunition size
1 centimeter
Lengths between 10−2 and 10−1 m (1 and 10 cm).
1 decimetre
Lengths between 10 and 100 centimetres (10−1 and 1 metre).
Conversions
10 centimetres (abbreviated to 10 cm) is equal to
Wavelengths
Human-defined scales and structures
- 10.16 cm = 1.016 dm — 1 hand used in measuring height of horses (4 inches)
- 12 cm = 1.2 dm — diameter of a Compact Disc (CD) (= 120 mm)
- 15 cm = 1.5 dm — length of a Bic pen with cap on
- 22 cm = 2.2 dm — diameter of a typical soccer ball
- 30.48 cm = 3.048 dm — 1 foot
- 30 cm = 3 dm — typical school-use ruler length (= 300 mm)
- 60 cm = 6 dm — standard depth (front to back) of a domestic kitchen worktop in Europe (= 600 mm)
- 90 cm = 9 dm — average length of a rapier, a fencing sword[35]
- 91.44 cm = 9.144 dm — one yard
- Cigarettes 100 mm (4 in) in length
Nature
- 29.98 cm = distance light travels in one nanosecond
- 56 cm = 5.6 dm — the length of the average erect horse pеnis
- 66 cm — length of the longest pine cones (produced by the sugar pine[36])
Longer
- 1 metre
- 1 decametre
- 1 hectometre
- 1 kilometre
- 1 myriametre
- 100 kilometres
- 1 megametre
- 10 megametres
- 100 megametres
1 gigametre
File:Wide panorama lengths 1e6m to 1e17m - Pluto globe to Messier 5.png|right|frame|Click on the thumbnail image to jump to the desired order of length magnitude: top-left is 1e6m, lower-right is 1e17m. (Image description)rect 0 0 74 59 1 E6 m - Click on the relevant thumbnail image to jump to the desired order of length magnitude: left is 1e6m, right is 1e13m. Click on information icon bottom-left for description of image.rect 75 0 149 59 1 E7 mrect 150 0 224 59 1 E8 mrect 225 0 299 59 1 E9 mrect 0 60 74 119 1 E10 mrect 75 60 149 119 1 E11 mrect 150 60 224 119 1 E12 mrect 225 60 299 119 1 E13 mrect 0 120 74 179 1 E14 mrect 75 120 149 179 1 E15 mrect 150 120 224 179 1 E16 mrect 225 120 299 179 1 E17 mdesc noneLengths starting at 109 metres (1 gigametre (Gm) or 1 million kilometres).
Distances shorter than 109 metres
Longer
- 10 gigametres
- 100 gigametres
- 1 terametre
- 10 terametres
- 100 terametres
- 1 light year
- 1 petametre
- 10 petametres
- 100 petametres
- 1 exametre
- 10 exametres
- 100 exametres
- 1 zettametre
- 10 zettametres
- 100 zettametres
- 1 yottametre
- 10 yottametres
- 100 yottametres
- 1 ronnametre
- 10 ronnametres
- 100 ronnametres
- 1 quettametre
- 10 quettametres
- 100 quettametres
See also
Notes and References
- Web site: Carl R. . Nave . Cowan and Reines Neutrino Experiment . 2008-12-04. (which gives an effective radius of about)
- Web site: Carl R. . Nave . Neutron Absorption Cross-sections . 2008-12-04. (area for 20 GeV about gives effective radius of about ; for 250 GeV about gives effective radius of about)
- 10.1038/nature09250 . The size of the proton . Randolf . Pohl . Aldo . Antognini . François . Nez . Fernando D. . Amaro . François . Biraben . João M. R. . Cardoso . Daniel S. . Covita . Andreas . Dax . Satish . Dhawan . Luis M. P. . Fernandes . Adolf . Giesen . Thomas . Graf . Theodor W. . Hänsch . Paul . Indelicato . Lucile . Julien . Cheng-Yang . Kao . Paul . Knowles . Eric-Olivier . Le Bigot . Yi-Wei . Liu . José A. M. . Lopes . Livia . Ludhova . Cristina M. B. Monteiro . Françoise . Mulhauser . Tobias . Nebel . Paul . Rabinowitz . etal . 8 July 2010. Nature . 466 . 7303 . 213–216 . 20613837 . 2010Natur.466..213P. 4424731 .
- [National Institute of Standards and Technology|NIST]
- Web site: Carl R. . Nave . Scattering Cross Section . 2009-02-10.
- Web site: Mark . Winter . WebElements Periodic Table of the Elements / Hydrogen / radii . 2008 . 2008-12-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20081218213512/http://www.webelements.com/hydrogen/atom_sizes.html. 18 December 2008 .
- Web site: Mark . Winter . WebElements Periodic Table of the Elements / Helium / radii . 2008 . 2008-12-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20081219030040/http://www.webelements.com/helium/atom_sizes.html. 19 December 2008 .
- Web site: Research & Development World.
- Web site: Mark . Winter . WebElements Periodic Table of the Elements / Sulfur / Radii . 2008 . 2008-12-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20081211084435/http://www.webelements.com/sulfur/atom_sizes.html. 11 December 2008 .
- Web site: Mark . Winter . WebElements Periodic Table of the Elements / Periodicity / Van der Waals radius / periodicity . 2008 . 2008-12-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20081219170602/http://www.webelements.com/periodicity/van_der_waals_radius/. 19 December 2008 .
- Web site: Resolution of an Electron Microscope . https://web.archive.org/web/20090316071444/http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2000/IlyaSherman.shtml . 2009-03-16 . live . 2009-04-25 .
- Annis, Patty J. October 1991. Kansas State University. Fine Particle POLLUTION. Figure 1. (tobacco smoke: 10 to ; virus particles: 3 to 50 nm; bacteria: 30 to ; cooking oil smoke: 30 to ; wood smoke: 7 to)
- http://pharmaxchange.info/press/2011/08/introduction-to-the-electromagnetic-spectrum-and-spectroscopy/ Introduction to the Electromagnetic Spectrum and Spectroscopy
- Book: Stryer, Lubert . Biochemistry . W.H. Freeman . San Francisco . 1988 . 0-7167-1843-X . registration .
- Kojima S, Blair D . The bacterial flagellar motor: structure and function of a complex molecular machine . Int Rev Cytol . 233 . 93–134 . 2004. 15037363 . 10.1016/S0074-7696(04)33003-2 . International Review of Cytology . 978-0-12-364637-8.
- Web site: 2-25 The cell wall surrounds and holds in the microbe . MicrobiologyText.com . 2013-01-25 . 2016-06-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160612050607/http://www.microbiologytext.com/index.php?module=book&func=displayarticle&art_id=60 . dead .
- Web site: Moore's Law Marches on at Intel . www.physorg.com . 2009-09-21.
- Web site: Hard drive basics: Capacities, RPM speeds, interfaces and mechanics. Help With PCs.
- Electrospray versus Nebulization for Aerosolization and Filter Testing with Bacteriophage Particles. Aerosol Science and Technology, Volume 43, Issue 4 April 2009, pages 298 - 304.
- Book: https://books.google.com/books?id=51ozlZRBvQwC&pg=SL24-PA111 . Textbook Of Pharmacology . SD. Seth. Vimlesh. Seth. Antiretroviral Drugs and Drug Therapy of HIV/AIDS. Sinha. Sanjeev. Bhoveshwaranath. G. Gupta. Sneha . 18 November 2009 . X.111. Elsevier India . 9788131211588 .
- Smith. D.J.. Human sperm accumulation near surfaces: a simulation study. Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 2009. 621. 295. 10.1017/S0022112008004953. 20 May 2012. 2009JFM...621..289S. 3942426. https://web.archive.org/web/20131106030353/http://eprints.maths.ox.ac.uk/860/1/human_sperm.pdf. 6 November 2013. dead. dmy-all.
- http://www.dnaftb.org/dnaftb/6/concept/index.html DNA From The Beginning, section 6: Genes are real things., "Amination" section, final slide
- Web site: Gordon . Ramel . Spider Silk . garden spider silk has a diameter of about 0.003 mm ... Dragline silk (about .00032 inch (.008 mm) in Nephila) . 2008-12-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20081204080140/http://www.earthlife.net/chelicerata/silk.html. 4 December 2008 . live.
- Web site: IST - Innovative Sintering Technologies Ltd. . Fibreshape applications . Histogram of cotton thickness . 2008-12-04.
- Book: Lippmann, Morton . Environmental Toxicants: Human Exposures and Their Health Effects . John Wiley and Sons . 2000 . 0-471-29298-2 . 453 . 20 μm .. 5 μm . 2008-12-04.
- The diameter of a human hair ranges from 17 to 181 μm. Web site: Diameter of a human hair. Brian. Ley. 1999. The Physics Factbook. Elert. Glenn. 2018-12-08.
- Web site: Apple – iPhone 4S – See everything clearly with the Retina display. Apple Inc. Official Website. Apple Inc.. 10 March 2012.
- Web site: Sperm Facts. Dr. Charles Lindmann's Lab. Oakland University. Lindemann. Charles.
- Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20011102080548/http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2157.html. House Dust Mites. HYG-2157-97. Lyon. William F.. Ohio State University Extension. dead. 2 November 2001.
- 1723104 . 10381661 . 83 . 7 . Evaluation of corneal thickness and topography in normal eyes using the Orbscan corneal topography system . July 1999 . Br J Ophthalmol . 774–8 . 10.1136/bjo.83.7.774. Liu . Z. . Huang . A. J. . Pflugfelder . S. C. .
- Web site: USGA: Guide to the Rules on Clubs and Balls . USGA . 2011-09-30.
- Web site: Official Rules . MLB . 2011-09-30.
- Web site: Credit Card Dimensions . 2011-09-30 .
- m is an abbreviation of metre; cm of centimetre; dm of decimetre; m2 is short for square metre; m3 is short for cubic metre
- Web site: What is a rapier: A sword collecting beginners' guide to collectible rapiers . 2013-01-25 . 2012-11-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121113080532/http://www.2-clicks-swords.com/article/what-is-a-rapier.html . dead .
- Web site: Pinus lambertiana . Bohun B. Jr. . Kinloch . William H. . Scheuner . amp. 8 June 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110608015717/http://www.na.fs.fed.us/Spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/Volume_1/pinus/lambertiana.htm. 8 June 2011 . live.
- http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/sunfact.html Sun Fact Sheet
- Neuroscience: The Science of the Brain Web site: IBRO Brain Campaign . 2011-06-08 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110202081347/http://www.braincampaign.org/Pub/Pub_Main_Display.asp?LC_Docs_ID=2769 . 2011-02-02 . p.44