Orders of magnitude (length)
This is for comparison purposes, a set of lengths of different sizes. The data can often be understood as a "typical"; the converted values are rounded.
Basic unit of length in the International System of Units is 1 meter ( unit symbol m).
Shorter lengths than 1 nm
1 Zeptometer is a trilliardstel meters (1 zm = 10-21 m). 1 femtometer is a trillionth of meters (10-15 m). 1 nanometer is one billionth of a meter (1 nm = 10-9 m).
Subatomic to the atomic range:
- Cosmic radiation includes gamma radiation, which can be less than a wavelength of 30 zm
- 0.000001 nm (1 × 10-15 m ) = 1 fm - approximate size of a proton and a neutron
- 0.00001 nm (1 × 10-14 m ) = 0.01 pm = 10 fm - approximate size of an atomic nucleus
- 0.1 nm = 100 pm - approximate size of an atom
1 nm to 10 nm
10 nm to 100 nm
- 22 nm - Currently, the minimum feature size on commercial microchips
- 80 nm - Size of rubella virus
100 nm to 1 micron
1 micron to 10 microns
- 0.5 to 3 microns - alveolar diameter, carcinogenic asbestos fibers (having a length of about 8)
- 3 microns - the smallest plasmodia
- 10 microns and smaller - particulate matter, most allergenic or otherwise harmful to health
10 microns to 100 microns
100 microns to 1 mm
1 mm to 1 cm
1 cm to 10 cm
- 2.54 cm = 1 inch
- 2.575 cm - diameter of the 2- euro coin
- 3.5 cm - Width mm film
- 7.2 cm - width of a 20 euro note