List of orders of magnitude for length | Factor | Multiple | Value | Item |
| 10-35 | | 1.6 ×10-35 m | Planck length; lengths smaller than this do not make any physical sense, according to current theories of physics |
| . . . |
| 10-24 | 1 yoctometre (ym) | | |
| 10-21 | 1 zeptometre (zm) | | |
| 10-18 | 1 attometre (am) | | size of a quark, electron radius |
| sensitivity of the LIGO detector for gravitational waves |
| 10-15 | 1 femtometre (fm) | | size of a proton |
| classical electron |
| 10-14 | 10 fm | | scale of the atomic nucleus |
| range of the weak nuclear force |
| 10-13 | 100 fm | | Compton wavelength of electron |
| 10-12 | 1 picometre (pm) | | distance between atomic nuclei in a white dwarf |
| wavelength of gamma rays |
| 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 | | wavelength of X rays |
| 100 pm | 1 Ångström |
| 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 caesium atom |
| 500 pm (0.50 nm) | width of protein α helix |
| 10-9 | 1 nanometre (nm) | 2 nm | diameter of DNA helix |
| 10-8 | 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) |
| 100 nm | 90% of particles in wood smoke are smaller than this |
| 10-7 | 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 | 1 micrometre (µm) | 1 µm | also called 1 micron |
| 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 | 10 µm | 10 µm | typical 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 | 100 µm | 125 µm | dust mite |
| 200 µm | typical length of Paramecium caudatum, a ciliate protist |
| 300 µm | diameter of Thiomargarita namibiensis, the largest bacterium ever discovered |
| 500 µm | MEMS micro-engine |
| 500 µm | diameter of a human ovum |
| 500 µm | typical length of Amoeba proteus, an amoeboid protist |
| 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 |
| 3.1 cm | 1 attoparsec (10-18 parsecs) |
| 4.267 cm | diameter of a golf ball |
| 10-1 | 1 decimetre (dm) | 10 cm | wavelength of the highest UHF radio frequency, 3 GHz |
| 10 cm | diameter of the cervix upon entering the second stage of labour |
| 10.16 cm | Hand using in measuring height of horses (4 inches) |
| 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 |
| 100 | 1 metre | 100 | wavelength of the lowest UHF and highest VHF radio frequency, 300 MHz |
| 1.435m | Standard gauge of railway track |
| 1.7 m (5 feet 7 inches) | average height of a human being |
| 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 108 - 87 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 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 (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 soccer field |
| 70 m | length of the Bayeux Tapestry |
| 91.44 m | length of an American football field (100 yards, measured between the goal lines) |
| 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 soccer field |
| 109.73 m | total length of an 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 |
| 400-500 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 (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 Warsaw radio mast, formerly the tallest man-made structure, collapsed in 1991 |
| 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 |
| 8848 m | height of the highest mountain on earth, Mount Everest |
| 104 | 10 km | 10,911 m | depth of deepest part of the ocean, Mariana Trench |
| 25 km | height of the highest known mountain of the solar system, Olympus Mons on Mars |
| 33 km | narrowest width of the English Channel at the Strait of Dover |
| 53,9 km | length of the Seikan Tunnel, at present (feb 2006) the longest in the world |
| 105 | 100 km | 111 km | one degree of latitude on Earth |
| 975 km | greatest diameter of the largest solar system asteroid, 1 Ceres |
| 106 | 1,000 km = 1 megametre (Mm) | 3,480 km | diameter of the Moon |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 1010 | 10 million km |
| 1011 | 100 million km | 150 million km = 150 Gm | 1 astronomical unit (AU); mean distance between Earth and Sun. |
| 1012 | 1000 million km = 1 terametre (Tm) | 1.4 ×109 km | orbital distance of Saturn from Sun |
| 5.9 ×109 km = 5.9 Tm | orbital distance of Pluto from Sun |
| 1013 | 10 Tm | 14.56 ×109 km = 14.56 Tm | distance of the Voyager 1 spacecraft from sun (November 2005), the farthest man-made object so far |
| 1014 | 100 Tm |
| 1015 | 1 petametre (Pm) | 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) |
| 1017 | 100 Pm | | |
| 1018 | 1 exametre (Em) | | |
| 1019 | 10 Em | | |
| 1020 | 100 Em | 10,000 light years |
| 1021 | 1 zettametre (Zm) | 100,000 light years | diameter of galactic disk of Milky Way Galaxy |
| 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 ×1021 m = 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 = 22.3 Zm) | 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 |
| 500 million light years (5 Ym, 150 megaparsecs) | |
| 1025 | 10 Ym |
| 1026 | 100 Ym | 10 ×109 light years | estimated distance to certain quasars |
| 13.7 ×109 light years = 1.3 ×1026 m = 130 Ym | distance the cosmic background radiation has travelled since the Big Bang |
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