Orders of magnitude (length)

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Contents
Section Range (m) Unit Example Items
≥ <
Subatomic 0 10-15 electron, quark, string
Atomic to Cellular 10−15 10−12 fm proton, neutron
10−12 10−9 pm wavelength of gamma rays and X-rays, hydrogen atom
10−9 10−6 nm DNA helix, virus, wavelength of optical spectrum
Human Scale 10−6 10−3 µm bacterium, fog water droplet, human hair[1]
10−3 100 mm mosquito, golf ball, soccer ball,
100 103 m human being, American football field, Eiffel Tower
103 106 km Mount Everest, length of Panama Canal, asteroid
Astronomical 106 109 Mm the Moon, Earth, one light-second
109 1012 Gm Sun, one light-minute, Earth's orbit
1012 1015 Tm orbits of outer planets, Solar System,
1015 1018 Pm one light-year; distance to Proxima Centauri
1018 1021 Em galactic arm
1021 1024 Zm Milky Way, distance to Andromeda Galaxy
1024 ∞ Ym visible universe

[edit] Detailed List

To help compare different orders of magnitude, the following list describes various lengths between 1.6×10−35 m and 1.3×1026 m.

[edit] Subatomic

Factor (m) Multiple Value Item
10−35 0.000000000016 ym (1.6×10−35 m) Planck length; size of a hypothetical string; and branes, lengths smaller than this do not make any physical sense, according to some current theories of physics.[2]

Quantum foam is thought to exist at this level.
. . .
10−24 1 yoctometre (ym) 20 ym (2 × 10−23 metres) effective cross section radius of 1 MeV neutrinos[3]
10−21 1 zeptometre (zm) Preons, hypothetical particles proposed as subcomponents of quarks and leptons and the width of a cosmic string
effective cross section radius of high energy neutrinos[4]
10−18 1 attometre (am) upper limit for the size of quarks and electrons
sensitivity of the LIGO detector for gravitational waves
upper bound of the typical size range for "fundamental strings"[2]
10−16 100 attometres (am) According to Craig Hogan, a scientist from Fermilab, the predicted scale of resolution of space-time if the universe is assumed to satisfy the holographic principle, a prediction that according to preliminary reports is in agreement with observations at the GEO 600 detector.[5]

[edit] Atomic to Cellular

1 E-15m - Click on the relevant thumbnail image to jump to the desired order of length magnitude: left is 1e-15m, right is 1e-8m. Click on information icon bottom-left for description of image. 1 E-14 m 1 E-13 m 1 E-12 m 1 E-11 m 1 E-10 m 1 E-9 m 1 E-8 m 1 E-7 m
Clickable image. The thumbnails range left to right from 1e-15m to 1e-7m. (Image description)
Factor (m) Multiple Value Item
10−15 1 femtometre (fm) 1.5 fm size of an 11 MeV proton[6]
2.81794 fm classical electron radius[7]
scale of the atomic nucleus[2][8]
10-14 10 fm range of the weak force
10−13 100 fm
10−12 1 picometre (pm) ... longest wavelength of gamma rays
2.4 pm Compton wavelength of electron
5 pm wavelength of shortest X-rays
10−11 10 pm 25 pm radius of hydrogen atom
31 pm radius of helium atom
53 pm Bohr radius
10−10 100 pm 100 pm (0.1 nm) 1 Ångström (also covalent radius of sulfur atom[9])
154 pm (0.154 nm) length of a typical covalent bond (C–C).
500 pm (0.50 nm) width of protein α helix
10−9 1 nanometre (nm) 1 nm diameter of Carbon nanotube[10]
2.5 nm Smallest transistor gate oxide thickness microprocessors (as of Jan 2007)
6 - 10 nm thickness of cell membrane
10−8 10 nm 10 nm thickness of cell wall in gram-negative bacteria[citation needed]
40 nm extreme ultraviolet wavelength
90 nm Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (generally, viruses range in size from 20 nm to 450 nm)
10−7 100 nm 121.6 nm wavelength of the lyman-alpha line[11]
380–435 nm wavelength of violet light—see color and optical spectrum[12]
625–740 nm wavelength of red light[12]

[edit] Human Scale

Factor (m) Multiple Value Item
10−6 1 micrometre (µm) 1 µm also called 1 micron
1–3 µm particle size that a surgical mask removes at 80-95% efficiency[citation needed]
7 µm diameter of a red blood cell[13]
10−5 10 µm 10 µm typical size of a fog, mist or cloud water droplet
12 µm width of Acrylic fibre
25.4 µm 1/1000 inch, commonly referred to as 1 mil
10−4 100 µm 100 µm width of a strand of human hair[13]
200 µm typical length of Paramecium caudatum, a ciliate protist
300 µm diameter of Thiomargarita namibiensis, the largest bacterium ever discovered
10−3 1 millimetre (mm) 2.54 mm distance between pins in old DIP (dual-inline-package) electronic components
5 mm length of average red ant
7.62 mm common military ammunition size
10−2 1 centimetre (cm) 1.5 cm length of a large mosquito
2.54 cm 1 inch
4.267 cm diameter of a Golf ball
10−1 1 decimetre (dm) 10 cm wavelength of the highest UHF radio frequency, 3 GHz
30.48 cm 1 foot
91 cm 1 yard
100 1 metre 1 m wavelength of the lowest UHF and highest VHF radio frequency, 300 MHz
1 m approximate height of the top part of a doorknob on a door
1.435 m Standard gauge of railway track
1.7 m (5 feet 7 inches) average height of a human being
2.44 m height of a football goal.
2.45 m highest jump by a human being (Javier Sotomayor)
2.72 m tallest known human being (Robert Wadlow)
2.77 - 3.44 m wavelength of the broadcast radio FM band 87–108 MHz
3.048 m (10 feet) height of the basket in basketball
5.5 m height of tallest animal, the giraffe
8.95 m longest jump by a human being (Mike Powell)
101 1 decametre (dam) 10 m wavelength of the lowest VHF and highest shortwave radio frequency, 30 MHz
18.44 m (60 feet 6 inches) distance between the pitcher's rubber and home plate on a baseball field
20.12 m (22 yards) 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 (90 feet) 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 an 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
62 m Height of Pyramid of Djoser
70 m width of a typical football field
70 m length of the Bayeux Tapestry
88.40 m wingspan of the Antonov An-225 transport aircraft
91.44 m length of an American football field (100 yards, measured between the goal lines)
93.47 m height of the Statue of Liberty (foundation of pedestal to torch)
102 1 hectometre (hm) 100 m wavelength of the lowest shortwave radio frequency and highest medium wave radio frequency, 3 MHz
105 m length of a typical football field
109.73 m total length of an American football field (120 yards, including the end zones)
115.55 m height of the world's tallest tree, a Coast redwood
137 m (147 m) height (present/original) of the Great Pyramid of Giza
139.5 m height of the world's tallest roller coaster, Kingda Ka
187 m shortest wavelength of the broadcast radio AM band, 1600 kHz
299.792 m approximate distance travelled by light in one microsecond
300.65 m height of the Eiffel Tower (roof)
340 m distance sound travels in air in one second; see speed of sound
400–500 m approximate heights of the world's tallest skyscrapers of the past 70 years.
458 m length of the Knock Nevis, the world's largest supertanker
541 m (1776 ft) height of the planned Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center site
555 m longest wavelength of the broadcast radio AM band, 540 kHz
647 m height of the Warsaw radio mast, formerly the tallest man-made structure, collapsed in 1991
818 m height of the Burj Dubai, the World's tallest structure built by man
979 m height of the Salto Angel, the world's highest free-falling waterfall (Venezuela)
103 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
1991 m Span of the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, largest in the world as of June 2006
2309 m Axial length of the Three Gorges Dam, the largest dam in the world
8848 m height of the highest mountain on earth, Mount Everest
104 10 km 10.911 km depth of deepest part of the ocean, Mariana Trench
13 km narrowest width of the Strait of Gibraltar, separating Europe and Africa
25 km height of the highest known mountain of the solar system, Olympus Mons on Mars
27 km circumference of the Large Hadron Collider, as of 2009 the largest and highest energy particle accelerator
30 km length of the longest man made dike enclosed by water on two sides, the Afsluitdijk
31.3 km highest parachute jump (Joseph Kittinger)
33 km narrowest width of the English Channel at the Strait of Dover
34.668 km highest manned balloon flight (Malcolm D. Ross and Victor E. Prather)
38.422 km length of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, as of June 2006, the longest bridge in the world
42.195 km length of the Marathon, the longest mainstream long-distance road running event
53.9 km length of the Seikan Tunnel, as of February 2006, the longest in the world
77.1 km total length of the Panama Canal
90 km width of the Bering Strait
105 100 km 111 km one degree of latitude on Earth
163 km length of the Suez Canal
300 km the approximate distance travelled by light in one millisecond
560 km distance of Bordeaux-Paris, formerly the longest one-day professional cycling race
804.67 km (500 miles) distance of the Indy 500 automobile race
975 km greatest diameter of the largest solar system asteroid,[14] 1 Ceres

[edit] Astronomical

An illustration of the sizes of planets and stars
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. 1 E7 m 1 E8 m 1 E9 m 1 E10 m 1 E11 m 1 E12 m 1 E13 m 1 E14 m 1 E15 m 1 E16 m 1 E17 m
Click on the thumbnail image to jump to the desired order of length magnitude: top-left is 1e6m, lower-right is 1e17m. (Image description)
Factor (m) Multiple Value Item
106 1,000 km = 1 megametre (Mm) 2,390 km diameter of dwarf planet Pluto, formerly the smallest planet[14] of our solar system
3,480 km diameter of the Moon
5,200 km typical distance covered by the winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans automobile endurance race
6,400 km length of the Great Wall of China
6,600 km approximate length of the two longest rivers, the Nile and the Amazon
7,821 km length of the Trans-Canada Highway
9,288 km length of the Trans-Siberian Railway, longest in the world
107 10,000 km 12,756 km equatorial diameter of the Earth
40,075 km length of the Earth's equator
108 100,000 km 142,984 km diameter of Jupiter
299,792.458 km distance travelled by light in one second
384,000 km = 384 Mm Moon's orbital distance from Earth
109 1 million km = 1 gigametre (Gm) 1,390,000 km = 1.39 Gm diameter of the Sun
4,200,000  km = 4.2 Gm greatest mileage ever recorded by a car (A 1966 Volvo P-1800S, still driving)
1010 10 million km 18 million km approximately one light-minute
1011 100 million km 150 million km = 150 Gm 1 astronomical unit (AU); mean distance between Earth and Sun.
~ 900 Gm optical diameter of Betelgeuse (~600 x Sun)
1012 1000 million km = 1 terametre (Tm) 1.4 ×109 km orbital distance of Saturn from Sun
~ 3 ×109 km estimated optical diameter of VY Canis Majoris, as of 2007 the largest known star (~2000 x Sun)
5.9 ×109 km = 5.9 Tm orbital distance of Pluto from Sun
~ 7.5 ×109 km = 7.5 Tm outer boundary of the Kuiper belt, inner boundary of the Oort cloud (~ 50 AU)
1013 10 Tm diameter of our Solar System as a whole[2]
16.25×109 km = 16.25 Tm distance of the Voyager 1 spacecraft from sun (as of Feb 2009), the farthest man-made object so far[15]
1014 100 Tm
1015 1 petametre (Pm) ~ 7.5 ×1012 km = 7.5 Pm supposed outer boundary of the Oort cloud (~ 50,000 AU)
9.46×1012 km = 9.46 Pm
= 1 light year		 distance travelled by light in one year; at its current speed, Voyager 1 would need 17,500 years to travel this distance
1016 10 Pm 3.2616 light-years
(3.08568×1016 m = 30.8568 Pm)		 1 parsec
4.22 light-years = 39.9 Pm distance to nearest star (Proxima Centauri)
10.4 light-years = 98.4 Pm as of September 2007, distance to nearest discovered extrasolar planet (Epsilon Eridani b)
1017 100 Pm 20.4 light-years = 193 Pm as of September 2007, distance to nearest discovered extrasolar planet with potential to support life as we know it (Gliese 581 c)
65 light-years = 6.15×1017 m = 615 Pm approximate radius of humanity's radio bubble, caused by high-power TV broadcasts leaking through the atmosphere into outer space
1018 1 exametre (Em) 200 light-years = 1.9 Em as of October 2007, distance to nearest discovered solar twin (HIP 56948), a star with properties virtually identical to our Sun [16]
1019 10 Em 1,000 light-years = 9.46 Em or 9.46 × 1015 km average thickness of Milky Way Galaxy[17] (1000 to 3000 ly by 21 cm observations[18])
1020 100 Em 12,000 light-years = 113.5 Em or 1.135 × 1017 km thickness of Milky Way Galaxy's gaseous disk[19]
1021 1 zettametre (Zm) 100,000 light-years diameter of galactic disk of Milky Way Galaxy[2]
50 kiloparsecs distance to SN 1987A, the most recent naked eye supernova
52 kiloparsecs = 1.6×1021 m = 1.6 Zm distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud (a dwarf galaxy orbiting the Milky Way)
54 kiloparsecs = 1.66 Zm distance to the Small Magellanic Cloud (another dwarf galaxy orbiting the Milky Way)
1022 10 Zm 22.3 Zm = 2.36 million light-years
= 725 kiloparsecs		 distance to Andromeda Galaxy
50 Zm (1.6 Mpc) diameter of Local Group of galaxies
1023 100 Zm 300–600 Zm = 10–20 megaparsecs distance to Virgo cluster of galaxies
1024 1 yottametre (Ym) 200 million light-years
= 2 Ym = 60 megaparsecs		 diameter of the Local Supercluster and the largest voids and filaments.
500 million light-years
= 5 Ym = 150 megaparsecs
1025 10 Ym
1026 100 Ym 1×1010 light-years
= 1026 m = 100 Ym		 estimated light travel distance to certain quasars
92×109 light years
= 9.2×1026 m = 920 Ym		 approx. diameter (comoving distance) of the visible universe[2]

[edit] See also

Orders of magnitude for length in E notation, shorter than one metre:
<-24 -24 -23 -22 -21 -20 -19 -18 -17 -16 -15 -14 -13 -12 -11 -10 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0
longer than 1 metre:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
Orders of magnitude
area angular velocity charge currency data density energy
frequency length magnetic field mass numbers power pressure
specific energy density specific heat capacity speed temperature time volume
Conversion of units
physical unit SI SI base unit SI derived unit SI prefix Planck units
  • Powers of Ten, a 1977 short documentary film which depicts the relative scale of the Universe in factors of ten.

[edit] References

  1. ^ According to The Physics Factbook, the diameter of human hair ranges from 17 to 181 µm. Ley, Brian (1999). "Width of a Human Hair". The Physics Factbook. http://hypertextbook.com/facts/1999/BrianLey.shtml. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f Cliff Burgess; Fernando Quevedo (November 2007). "The Great Cosmic Roller-Coaster Ride" (print). Scientific American (Scientific American, Inc.): p. 55. 
  3. ^ Carl R. Nave. "Cowan and Reines Neutrino Experiment". http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/particles/cowan.html#c1. Retrieved on 2008-12-04.  (6.3 x 10−44 cm2, which gives an effective radius of about 2 x 10−23 m)
  4. ^ Carl R. Nave. "Neutron Absorption Cross-sections". http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/particles/neutrino3.html#c2. Retrieved on 2008-12-04.  (area for 20 GeV about 10 x 10−42 m2 gives effective radius of about 2 x 10−21 m; for 250 GeV about 150 x 10−42 m2 gives effective radius of about 7 x 10−21 m)
  5. ^ New Scientist - Our world may be a giant hologram
  6. ^ Carl R. Nave. "Scattering Cross Section". http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/nuclear/crosec.html. Retrieved on 2009-02-10.  (diameter of the Scattering Cross Section of an 11 MeV proton with a target proton)
  7. ^ NIST. CODATA Value: classical electron radius. Retrieved 2009-02-10
  8. ^ H. E. Smith. "The Scale of the Universe". UCSD. http://cass.ucsd.edu/public/tutorial/scale.html. Retrieved on 2009-02-10. "~10-13cm" 
  9. ^ Mark Winter (2008). "WebElements Periodic Table of the Elements / Sulfur / Radii". http://www.webelements.com/sulfur/atom_sizes.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-06. 
  10. ^ Flahaut, E.; Bacsa R, Peigney A, Laurent C. (2003). "Gram-Scale CCVD Synthesis of Double-Walled Carbon Nanotubes". Chemical Communications 12: 1442–1443. doi:10.1039/b301514a. http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/Journals/CC/article.asp?doi=b301514a. Retrieved on 2008-11-14. 
  11. ^ Cohn, J. University of California, Berkeley Lyman alpha systems and cosmology. Retrieved 2009-02-21
  12. ^ a b Color
  13. ^ a b DNA From The Beginning, Classical Genetics, section 6: Genes are real things., "Amination" section, final slide
  14. ^ a b The exact category (asteroid/dwarf planet/planet) to which particular solar system objects belong, has been subject to some revision since the discovery of extrasolar planets and trans-Neptunian objects
  15. ^ Spacecraft escaping the Solar System
  16. ^ Shiga, David. "Sun's 'twin' an ideal hunting ground for alien life". New Scientist. http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn12725-suns-twin-an-ideal-hunting-ground-for-alien-life.html. Retrieved on 2007-10-03. 
  17. ^ Christian, Eric; Samar, Safi-Harb. "How large is the Milky Way?". http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/980317b.html. Retrieved on 2008-11-14. 
  18. ^ Duncan, Martin (2008). "Physics 216 – Introduction to Astrophysics". http://www.physics.queensu.ca/~phys216/ch16B.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-11-14. 
  19. ^ "Milky Way fatter than first thought". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australian Associated Press. 2008-02-20. http://news.smh.com.au/milky-way-fatter-than-first-thought/20080220-1tbv.html. Retrieved on 2008-11-14. 

[edit] External links

  • How Big Are Things? displays orders of magnitude in successively larger rooms
  • Secret Worlds: The Universe Within, a Java animation which presents the notion of scale from the galaxy (10 millions light years, 1023 m) to the quark (100 attometres, 10−16 m); Molecular Expressions, State University of Florida
  • Powers of Ten Travel across the Universe. Altering perspective by changing scale by just a few powers of ten (interactive)
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