1 Micrometre

To help compare different orders of magnitude this page lists some items with lengths between 10−6 and 10−5 m (between 1 and 10 micrometres, or µm).

Distances shorter than 1 µm

  • ~0.7–300 µm — Wavelength of infrared radiation
  • 1 µm — the side of square of area 10−12 m²
  • 1 µm — edge of cube of volume 10−18 m³ (one fL.)
  • 1–10 µm — diameter of a typical bacterium
  • 1.55 µm — wavelength of light used in optical fibre
  • 3–4 µm — size of a typical yeast cell
  • 5 µm — length of a typical human spermatozoon's head
  • 6 µm — anthrax spore
  • 7 µm — diameter of the nucleus of a typical eukaryotic cell
  • about 7 μm — diameter of human red blood cells
  • 3–8 µm — width of strand of spider web silk
  • 8 µm — width of a chloroplast
  • 9 µm — thickness of the tape in a 120-minute compact cassette.
  • about 10 µm — size of a fog, mist or cloud water droplet

Distances longer than 10 µm