Orders of magnitude (length)
The following are examples of orders of magnitude for different lengths.
Detailed list
To help compare different orders of magnitude, the following list describes various lengths between 1.6×10−35 meters and meters.
Subatomic
Factor (m) | Multiple | Value | Item | |
---|---|---|---|---|
10−35 | 1 Planck Length | 0.0000000000162 ym (1.62×10−35 m) | Planck length; typical scale of hypothetical loop quantum gravity or size of a hypothetical string and of branes; according to string theory lengths smaller than this do not make any physical sense.[2] Quantum foam is thought to exist at this level. | |
10−24 | 1 yoctometer (ym) | 20 ym (2 × 10−23 meters) | effective cross section radius of 1 MeV neutrinos[3] | |
10−21 | 1 zeptometer (zm) | Preons, hypothetical particles proposed as subcomponents of quarks and leptons; the upper bound for the width of a cosmic string in string theory. | ||
7 zm (7 × 10−21 meters) | effective cross section radius of high energy neutrinos[4] | |||
310 zm (3.10 × 10−19 meters) | de Broglie wavelength of protons at the Large Hadron Collider (4 TeV as of 2012) | |||
10−18 | 1 attometer (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] | ||||
10−17 | 10 am | range of the weak force | ||
Atomic and cellular
Factor (m) | Multiple | Value | Item |
---|---|---|---|
10−15 | 1 femtometer (fm) | 1.5 fm | size of an 11 MeV proton[5] |
2.81794 fm | classical electron radius[6] | ||
scale of the atomic nucleus[2][7] | |||
10−14 | 10 fm | ||
10−13 | 100 fm | ||
10−12 | 1 picometer (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[8]) |
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 nanometer (nm) | 1 nm | diameter of a carbon nanotube[9] |
2.5 nm | Smallest microprocessor transistor gate oxide thickness (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 |
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[10] |
380–435 nm | wavelength of violet light—see color and optical spectrum[11] | ||
625–740 nm | wavelength of red light[11] |
Human scale
Factor (m) | Multiple | Value | Item |
---|---|---|---|
10−6 | 1 micrometer (µm) | 1 µm | also called one micron |
1–3 µm | particle size that a surgical mask removes at 80–95% efficiency | ||
6-8 µm | diameter of a red blood cell[12] | ||
10−5 | 10 µm | 10 µm | typical size of a fog, mist or cloud water droplet. Chip 10 µm process in 1971. |
12 µm | width of acrylic fibre | ||
25.4 µm | 1/1000 inch, commonly referred to as one thou or one mil | ||
10−4 | 100 µm | 100 µm | average width of a strand of human hair[1] |
200 µm | typical length of Paramecium caudatum, a ciliate protist | ||
750 µm | maximum diameter of Thiomargarita namibiensis, the largest bacterium ever discovered | ||
10−3 | 1 millimeter (mm) | 2.54 mm | 1/10th inch; distance between pins in DIP (dual-inline-package) electronic components |
5 mm | length of average red ant | ||
7.62 mm | common military ammunition size | ||
10−2 | 1 centimeter (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 decimeter (dm) | 10 cm | wavelength of the highest UHF radio frequency, 3 GHz |
30.48 cm | 1 foot | ||
91.44 cm | 1 yard | ||
100 | 1 meter | 1 m | wavelength of the lowest UHF and highest VHF radio frequency, 300 MHz |
1.7 m (5 feet 7 inches) | average height of a human | ||
8.38 m | The length of a London Bus (Routemaster) | ||
101 | 1 decameter (dam) | 10 m | wavelength of the lowest VHF and highest shortwave radio frequency, 30 MHz |
33 m | length of longest blue whale measured, the largest animal[13] | ||
93.47 m | height of the Statue of Liberty (foundation of pedestal to torch) | ||
102 | 1 hectometer (hm) | 100 m | wavelength of the lowest shortwave radio frequency and highest medium wave radio frequency, 3 MHz |
137 m (147 m) | height (present and original) of the Great Pyramid of Giza | ||
828 m | Height of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest man-made building. | ||
979 m | height of the Salto Angel, the world's highest free-falling waterfall (Venezuela) | ||
103 | 1 kilometer (km) | 1 km | wavelength of the lowest medium wave radio frequency, 300 kHz |
1609 m | 1 international mile | ||
1852 m | 1 nautical mile | ||
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 | ||
90 km | width of the Bering Strait | ||
105 | 100 km | 111 km | distance covered by one degree of latitude on Earth's surface |
163 km | length of the Suez Canal | ||
974.6 km | greatest diameter[14] of the dwarf planet[note 2] Ceres |
Astronomical
Factor (m) | Multiple | Value | Item |
---|---|---|---|
106 | 1,000 km = 1 megameter (Mm) | 2,390 km | diameter of dwarf planet Pluto, formerly the smallest planet category[note 2] in the 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 gigameter (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 × Sun) | ||
1012 | 1000 million km = 1 terameter (Tm) | 1.4 ×109 km | orbital distance of Saturn from Sun |
1.96 ×109 km | estimated optical diameter of VY Canis Majoris (1420 × Sun) | ||
2.3 ×109 km | estimated optical diameter of NML Cygni (1650 × Sun) | ||
2.37 ×109 km | median point of the optical diameter of UY Scuti, as of 2014 the largest known star | ||
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 the 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] | ||
62.03×109 km = 62.03 Tm | estimated radius of the event horizon of the supermassive black hole in NGC 4889, the largest known black hole to date | ||
1014 | 100 Tm | 1.8×1011 km = 180 Tm | size of the debris disk around the star 51 Pegasi [16] |
2×1011 km = 200 Tm | total length of DNA molecules in human cells in an adult human body [17] | ||
1015 | 1 petameter (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 traveled 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 (3.0857×1013 km = 30.857 Pm) |
1 parsec |
4.22 light-years = 39.9 Pm | distance to nearest star (Proxima Centauri) | ||
4.37 light-years = 41.3 Pm | as of March 2013, distance to nearest discovered extrasolar planet (Alpha Centauri Bb) | ||
1017 | 100 Pm | 20.4 light-years = 193 Pm | as of October 2010, distance to nearest discovered extrasolar planet with potential to support life as we know it (Gliese 581 d) |
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 exameter (Em) | 200 light-years = 1.9 Em | distance to nearby solar twin (HIP 56948), a star with properties virtually identical to our Sun [18] |
1019 | 10 Em | 1,000 light-years = 9.46 Em or 9.46 × 1015 km | average thickness of Milky Way Galaxy[19] (1000 to 3000 ly by 21 cm observations[20]) |
1020 | 100 Em | 12,000 light-years = 113.5 Em or 1.135 × 1017 km | thickness of Milky Way Galaxy's gaseous disk[21] |
950 Em | 100,000 light-years | diameter of galactic disk of Milky Way Galaxy[2] | |
1021 | 1 zettameter (Zm) | ||
50 kiloparsecs | distance to SN 1987A, the most recent naked eye supernova | ||
52 kiloparsecs = 1.62×1021 m = 1.62 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) | ||
200 kiloparsecs = 6.15 Zm | diameter of the low surface brightness disc halo of the giant spiral galaxy Malin 1 | ||
1022 | 10 Zm | 13.25 Zm = 1.4 million light years = 600 kiloparsecs |
radius of the diffuse stellar halo of IC 1101, one of the largest known galaxies |
24 Zm = 2.5 million light-years = 770 kiloparsecs |
distance to Andromeda Galaxy | ||
3.26 million light-years =30.8 Zm = 1 megaparsec |
1 megaparsec | ||
50 Zm (1.6 Mpc) | diameter of Local Group of galaxies
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1023 | 100 Zm | 300–600 Zm = 10–20 megaparsecs | distance to Virgo cluster of galaxies |
1024 | 1 yottameter (Ym) | 200 million light-years = 1.9 Ym = 61 megaparsecs |
diameter of the Local Supercluster and the largest voids and filaments. |
300 million light-years = 2.8 Ym = 100 megaparsecs |
End of Greatness | ||
550 million light-years ~170 megaparsecs ~5 Ym |
diameter of the enormous Horologium Supercluster [22] | ||
1 billion light-years = 9.46 Ym =306 megaparsecs |
diameter of the Pisces–Cetus Supercluster Complex, the supercluster complex where we live. | ||
1025 | 10 Ym | 1.37 billion light years = 1.3×1025 m = 13 Ym |
Length of the Sloan Great Wall, a giant wall of galaxies (galactic filament).[23] |
3.26 billion light years =30.8 Ym = 1 gigaparsec |
1 gigaparsec | ||
4 billion light years =37.84 Ym |
Length of the Huge-LQG, a group of 73 quasars | ||
1026 | 100 Ym | 1×1010 light-years = 9.5×1025 m = 95 Ym |
estimated light travel distance to certain quasars
length of the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall, a colossal wall of galaxies, the largest and the most massive structure in the observable universe as of 2014 |
13.42 billion light years =1.27×1026 m = 127 Ym |
Estimated light travel distance to UDFj-39546284, the most distant object ever observed | ||
9.2×1010 light years = 8.7×1026 m = 870 Ym |
approx. diameter (comoving distance) of the visible universe[2] | ||
1027 | 1000 Ym | 130 billion light years = 1.2×1027 m = 1200 Ym |
lower bound of the (possibly infinite) radius of the universe, if it is a 3-sphere, according to one estimate using the WMAP data at 95% confidence.[24] It equivalently implies that there are at minimum 21 particle horizon-sized volumes in the universe. |
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According to the laws of probability, the distance one must travel until one encounters a volume of space identical to our observable universe with conditions identical to our own.[25][26] |
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size of universe after cosmological inflation, implied by one resolution of the No-Boundary Proposal[27] |
See also
- List of examples of lengths
- List of metric prefixes
- List of semiconductor scale examples
- Earth's location in the universe
- Powers of Ten, a 1968 short documentary film which depicts the relative scale of the Universe in factors of ten.
Notes
- 1 2 3 10115 is 1 followed by 115 zeroes, or a googol multiplied by a quadrillion. 1010115 is 1 followed by a quadrillion googol zeroes. 101010122is 1 followed by 1010122 (a googolplex10 sextillion) zeroes.
- 1 2 The exact category (asteroid, dwarf planet or planet) to which particular Solar System objects belong, has been subject to some revision since the discovery of extrasolar planets and trans-Neptunian objects
References
- 1 2 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.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cliff Burgess; Fernando Quevedo (November 2007). "The Great Cosmic Roller-Coaster Ride". Scientific American (print) (Scientific American, Inc.). p. 55.
- ↑ Carl R. Nave. "Cowan and Reines Neutrino Experiment". Retrieved 2008-12-04. (6.3 × 10−44 cm2, which gives an effective radius of about 2 × 10−23 m)
- ↑ NIST. CODATA Value: classical electron radius. Retrieved 2009-02-10
- ↑ H. E. Smith. "The Scale of the Universe". UCSD. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
~10−13cm
- ↑ Mark Winter (2008). "WebElements Periodic Table of the Elements / Sulfur / Radii". Retrieved 2008-12-06.
- ↑ Flahaut, E.; Bacsa R; Peigney A; Laurent C. (2003). "Gram-Scale CCVD Synthesis of Double-Walled Carbon Nanotubes". Chemical Communications 12 (12): 1442–1443. doi:10.1039/b301514a. PMID 12841282. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
- ↑ Cohn, J. University of California, Berkeley Lyman alpha systems and cosmology. Retrieved 2009-02-21
- 1 2 Color
- ↑ "Through the Microscope: Blood Cells - Life's Blood". Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
- ↑ "Animal Records". Smithsonian National Zoological Park. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
- ↑ Thomas, P. C.; Parker, J. Wm.; McFadden, L. A.; et al. (2005). "Differentiation of the asteroid Ceres as revealed by its shape". Nature 437 (7056): 224–226. Bibcode:2005Natur.437..224T. doi:10.1038/nature03938. PMID 16148926.
- ↑ Spacecraft escaping the Solar System
- ↑ Twin Keck telescopes probe dual dust disks
- ↑ "medical science - Length of uncoiled human DNA - Skeptics Stack Exchange". Retrieved 13 March 2015.
- ↑ Shiga, David. "Sun's 'twin' an ideal hunting ground for alien life". New Scientist. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
- ↑ Christian, Eric; Samar, Safi-Harb. "How large is the Milky Way?". Retrieved 2008-11-14.
- ↑ Duncan, Martin (2008). "16". Physics 216 – Introduction to Astrophysics (PDF). Retrieved 2008-11-14.
- ↑ "Milky Way fatter than first thought". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australian Associated Press. 2008-02-20. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
- ↑ http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/superc/hor.html The Horologium Supercluster
- ↑ J. R. Gott III et al., Astrophys. J., 624, 463 (2005). Figure 8 – "Logarithmic Maps of the Universe" – is available as a poster from the homepage of Mario Juric.
- ↑ http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0605709v2 How Many Universes Do There Need To Be?
- ↑ "Parallel universes. Not just a staple of science fiction, other universes are a direct implication of cosmological observations.", Tegmark M., Sci Am. 2003 May;288(5):40-51.
- ↑ Max Tegmark (2003). "Parallel Universes". In "Science and Ultimate Reality: from Quantum to Cosmos", honoring John Wheeler's 90th birthday. J. D. Barrow, P.C.W. Davies, & C.L. Harper eds. Cambridge University Press (2003). arXiv:astro-ph/0302131. Bibcode:2003astro.ph..2131T.
- ↑ http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0610199 "Susskind's Challenge to the Hartle-Hawking No-Boundary Proposal and Possible Resolutions "
External links
- How Big Are Things? displays orders of magnitude in successively larger rooms
- Powers of Ten Travel across the Universe. Altering perspective by changing scale by just a few powers of ten (interactive)
- Cosmos – an Illustrated Dimensional Journey from microcosmos to macrocosmos – from Digital Nature Agency
- Scale of the universe- interactive guide to length magnitudes
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