Orders of magnitude (length)

• 10^-35 m
  • 1.6×10^-35 is approximately one Planck length; lengths smaller than this do not make any physical sense, according to current theories of physics
• [...]
• 10^-18 m = 1 attometre (am)
  • size of a quark
• 10^-15 m = 1 femtometre (fm)
  • size of a proton
  • classical electron
• 10^-14 m
  • scale of the atomic nucleus
  • range of the weak nuclear force
• 10^-13 m
  • Compton wavelength of electron
• 10^-12 m = 1 picometre (pm)
  • wavelength of gamma rays
  • wavelength of shortest X-rays: 5pm
• 10^-11 m
  • radius of Hydrogen atom: 25pm
  • radius of Helium atom: 31 pm
• 10^-10 m = 1 Ångström
  • wavelength of X rays
  • 100 pm (0.1 nm) -- covalent radius of sulfur atom
  • 126 pm (0.126 nm) -- covalent radius of ruthenium atom
  • 135 pm (0.135 nm) -- covalent radius of technetium atom
  • 153 pm (0.153 nm) -- covalent radius of silver atom
  • 154 pm (0.154 nm) -- length of a typical covalent bond (C-C).
  • 155 pm (0.155 nm) -- covalent radius of zirconium atom
  • 175 pm (0.175 nm) -- covalent radius of thulium atom
  • 225 pm (0.225 nm) -- covalent radius of cesium atom
  • 500 pm (0.50 nm) -- width of protein α helix
• 10^-9 m = 1 nanometre (nm)
  • diameter of DNA helix: 2nm
• 10^-8 m = 10 nm
  • 20 nm -- thickness of bacterial flagellum
  • 40 nm -- extreme ultraviolet wavelength
  • 90 nm -- Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (generally, viruses range in size from 20 nm to 450 nm)
  • 90% of particles in wood smoke are smaller than 100 nm.
• 10^-7 m = 100 nm
  • size of chromosomes
  • 100 nm -- maximum particle size that can fit through a surgical mask
  • 120 nm -- Maximum particle size that can fit through a ULPA filter[1]
  • 280 nm -- near ultraviolet wavelength
  • 300 nm -- Maximum particle size that can fit through a HEPA filter
  • 380-430 nm -- wavelength of violet light -- see color and optical spectrum
  • 430-450 nm -- wavelength of indigo light
  • 450-500 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
  • 625-740 nm -- wavelength of red light
• 10^-6 m = 1 micrometre aka micron (μm)
  • 1-10 µm -- diameter of typical bacterium
  • 1.55 µm -- Wavelength of light used in optical fibre
  • 6-8 µm -- diameter of a human red blood cell
  • 6 μm -- anthrax spore
  • 7 µm -- width of strand of spider web [2]
  • 7 µm -- diameter of the nucleus of typical eukariotic cell
• 10^-5 m = 10 μm
  • approximately 10 µm: size of a fog, mist or cloud water droplet
  • 10 μm -- width of cotton fibre
  • 10.6 µm -- wavelength of light emitted by a carbon dioxide laser
  • 12 µm -- Width of acrylic fibre
  • 13 µm -- Width of nylon fibre
  • 14 µm -- Width of polyester fibre
  • 15 µm -- Width of silk fibre
  • 17 µm -- Dust mite excreta ¹
  • 20 µm -- Width of wool fibre
  • 25.4 µm -- 1/1000 inch, commonly referred to as 1 mil
  • 50 µm -- typical length of Euglena gracilis, a flagellate protist
  • 80 µm -- average width of human hair (ranges from 18 to 180 µm)
• 10^-4 m = 100 μm
  • 125 μm -- dust mite
  • 200 µm -- Typical length of Paramecium caudatum, a ciliate protist
  • 500 µm -- MEMS micro-engine
  • 500 µm -- diameter of a human ovum
  • 500 µm -- Typical length of Amoeba proteus, an amoeboid protist
• 10^-3 m = 1 millimetre (mm)
  • 2.54 mm -- distance between pins in old DIP (dual-inline-pins) electronic components
  • 5 mm -- length of average red ant
  • 7.62 mm -- common military ammunition size
• 10^-2 m = 1 centimetre (cm)
  • 1.5 cm -- length of a large mosquito.
  • 2.54 cm -- 1 inch
  • 3.1 cm -- 1 attoparsec (10^-18 parsecs)
  • 4.267 cm -- diameter of a golfball
• 10^-1 m = 10 cm
  • 10 cm -- wavelength of the highest UHF radio frequency, 3 GHz
  • 10 cm -- diameter of the cervix upon entering the second stage of labour
  • 12 cm -- wavelength of the 2.45 GHz ISM radio band
  • 15 cm -- height of a Lilliputian from Gulliver's Travels
  • 30.48 cm -- 1 foot
  • 50-65 cm -- a pizote's tail
  • 66 cm -- length of the longest pine cones (produced by the Sugar pine)
  • 89 cm -- average adult height of a Hobbit
  • 90 cm -- average length of a rapier, a fencing sword
  • 91 cm -- 1 yard
• 1 m
  • 1 m -- wavelength of the lowest UHF and highest VHF radio frequency, 300 MHz
  • 1.7 m (5 feet 7 inches) -- average person's height
  • 1.435m -- Standard gauge of railway track
  • 2.77 - 3.44 m -- wavelength of the broadcast radio FM band 108 - 87 MHz
  • 3.048 m -- (10 feet) height of the basket in basketball
  • 5.5 m -- height of tallest animal, the giraffe
• 10 m
  • 10 m -- wavelength of the lowest VHF and highest shortwave radio frequency, 30 MHz
  • 18.44 m -- distance between the pitcher's rubber and home plate on a baseball field
  • 20 m -- length of a cricket pitch
  • 21 m -- height of High Force waterfall in England.
  • 23 m -- height of the obelisk of the Place de la Concorde, Paris.
  • 25 m -- wavelength of the broadcast radio shortwave band at 12 MHz
  • 27.43 m -- distance between bases on a baseball field
  • 30 m -- length of a blue whale, the largest animal
  • 31 m -- wavelength of the broadcast radio shortwave band at 9.7 MHz
  • 40 m -- average depth beneath the seabed of the Channel tunnel
  • 49 m -- width of American football field (53 1/3 yards)
  • 49 m -- wavelength of the broadcast radio shortwave band at 6.1 MHz
  • 52 m -- height of Niagara Falls
  • 55 m -- height of the Leaning Tower of Pisa
  • 60 m -- Pyramid of Djoser
  • 70 m -- width of soccer field
  • 70 m -- length of the Bayeux Tapestry
  • 91.44 m -- length of American football field (100 yards, measured between the goal lines)
• 100 m
  • 100 m -- wavelength of the lowest shortwave radio frequency and highest medium wave radio frequency, 3 MHz
  • 105 m -- length of a soccer field
  • 109.73 m -- total length of a American football field (120 yards, including the end zones)
  • 112.34 m -- height of the world's tallest tree, a Coast redwood
  • 137 m -- height of the Great Pyramid of Giza
  • 147 m -- original height of the Great Pyramid of Giza
  • 168 m -- height of the Bungsberg, highest point in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
  • 187 m -- shortest wavelength of the broadcast radio AM band, 1600 kHz
  • 193 m -- the approximate length of New Jersey State Highway 59
  • 244 m -- height of the City Gate building in Ramat-Gan, Israel
  • 300 m -- height of the Eiffel Tower
  • 340 m -- distance sound travels in air in one second; see speed of sound
  • 400-500m -- approximate heights of the world's tallest skyscrapers of the past 70 years.
  • 541 m -- (1,776 ft) -- height of the planned Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center site
  • 553.33 m -- height of the CN Tower, the world's tallest free-standing land structure
  • 555 m -- longest wavelength of the broadcast radio AM band, 540 kHz
  • 647 m -- height of the Warszawa radio mast, formerly the tallest man-made structure, collapsed in 1991
• 1 000 m = 1 kilometre (km)
  • 1 km -- wavelength of the lowest medium wave radio frequency, 300 kHz
  • 1609 m = 1 international mile
  • 1852 m = 1 nautical mile
  • 8850 m -- height of the highest mountain, Mount Everest
• 10 000 m = 10 km
  • 11,518 m -- Mindanao deep
  • 35 km -- width of the English Channel
• 100 000 m = 100 km
• 10⁶ m = 1 000 km
  • 3 480 km -- diameter of the Moon
  • 6 400 km -- length of the Great Wall of China
• 10⁷ m = 10 000 km
  • 12 756 km = diameter of the Earth
  • 40 000 km = circumference of the Earth
• 10⁸ m = 100 000 km
  • 384 000 km -- Moon's orbital distance from Earth
• 10⁹ m = 1 million km
  • 1 390 000 km -- diameter of the Sun
• 10¹⁰ m = 10 million km
• 10¹¹ m = 100 million km
  • 150 million km -- 1 astronomical unit (AU); mean distance between Earth and Sun.
• 10¹² m = 1 billion km
  • 1.4 billion km -- orbital distance of Saturn from Sun
  • 6 billion km -- orbital distance of Pluto from Sun
• 10¹³ m = 10 billion km
• 10¹⁴ m = 100 billion km
• 10¹⁵ m = 1 trillion km
  • 9.5 trillion km = 1 light year -- distance travelled by light in one year
• 10¹⁶ m
  • 3.26 light years -- 1 parsec
  • 4.2 light years -- distance to nearest star (Proxima Centauri)
• 10¹⁷ m
• 10¹⁸ m
• 10¹⁹ m
• 10²⁰ m
  • 100 000 light years -- diameter of galactic disk of Milky Way Galaxy
• 10²¹ m
  • 52 kiloparsecs or 1.6 × 10²¹ m -- distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud (a dwarf galaxy orbiting the Milky Way)
  • 54 kiloparsecs or 1.66 × 10²¹ m -- distance to the Small Magellanic Cloud (another dwarf galaxy orbiting the Milky Way)
• 10²² m
  • 22.3 Zm or 2.36 million light years or 725 kiloparsecs - distance to Andromeda Galaxy
  • 50 Zm or 1.6 Mpc - diameter of Local Group of galaxies
• 10²³ m
  • 300-600 Zm or 10-20 megaparsecs - distance to Virgo cluster of galaxies
• 10²⁴ m
  • 200 million light years or 2 Ym or 60 megaparsecs -- diameter of the Local Supercluster
  • 500 million light years or 5 Ym or 150 megaparsecs -- length of Great Wall, the largest observed superstructure.
• 10²⁵ m
• 10²⁶ m
  • 10 billion light years -- estimated distance to certain quasars, the farthest observed objects in the Universe
  • 13.7 billion light years -- distance the cosmic background radiation has traveled since the Big bang

See also: SI, SI prefixes, SI base units, units, length, orders of magnitude

Referenced By