POWERS OF TEN
Power
of Ten
(m)
1027
Number
Long Hand
(m)
Metric Unit
of Measure
Scale
Relational Facts
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
1000 yottameters
universal
Width of the Universe
26
100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
100 yottameters
intergalactic
Distance to faintest observed galaxies
25
10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
10 yottameters
intergalactic
1 billion light years
24
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
1 yottameter (Ym)
intergalactic
23
10
100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
100 zettameters
intergalactic
1022
10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
10 zettameters
intergalactic
1021
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
1 zettameter (Zm)
galactic
1020
10
10
10
100,000,000,000,000,000,000
100 exameters
intragalactic
Length of Galaxy Sheets like the Great Wall or
Perseus-Pisces Chain
Local Super Galaxy Cluster, Distance to Ursa
Major Super Cluster
distance to Andromeda Galaxy (M31), Local
Group of 30 galaxies
size of the Milky Way Galaxy, distance to
nearest galaxy the Magellanic Cloud
10,000 light years
19
10,000,000,000,000,000,000
10 exameters
intragalactic
1,000 light years
18
10
1,000,000,000,000,000,000
1 exameter (Em)
intragalactic
100 light years
1017
100,000,000,000,000,000
100 petameters
intragalactic
10 light years
16
10,000,000,000,000,000
10 petameters
intragalactic
distance light travels in a year; 1 light year,
distance to nearest star Promixa Centuri
15
1,000,000,000,000,000
1 petameter (Pm)
interstellar
14
100,000,000,000,000
100 terameter
interstellar
13
10,000,000,000,000
10 terameter
solar system
size of our solar system
12
1,000,000,000,000
1 terameter (Tm)
interplanetary
distance containing the 6 inner planetary orbits
11
100,000,000,000
100 gigameters
interplanetary
10,000,000,000
10 gigameters
intraorbital
distance from Earth to Sun & Haley’s comet if
close, six weeks in Earth’s orbit
distance Earth travels in 4 days
10
1,000,000,000
1 gigameter (Gm)
intraorbital
distance from Earth to Moon
108
100,000,000
100 megameter
intraorbital
distance light travels in a second
10
10,000,000
10 megameter
global
diameter of Earth
106
1,000,000
1 megameter (Mm)
biome
weather fronts, the great lakes
5
100,000
100 kilometers
biome
4
10,000
10 kilometers
community
large cities and small countries, New Zealand,
Chicxulub crater
6.2 mile road race
3
1,000
1 kilometer (km)
community
a neighborhood, six city blocks, a lake
2
100
100 meters
community
tallest trees, statue of liberty, tall buildings
1
10
10 meters
organismal
a house, whales, dinosaurs
0
1
1 meter (m)
organismal
human scale, small plants
-1
10
0.1
100 millimeters
organismal
palm of your hand, small vertebrates
10-2
0.01
10 millimeters
organismal
your fingertip, insects
10
0.001
1 millimeter (mm)
organismal
sand grain, period at the end of a sentence
10-4
0.0001
100 micrometers
organismal
thickness of hair, _ old embryo
10
0.00001
10 micrometers
cellular
size of cells, bacteria and plankton
10-6
0.000001
1 micrometer (m)
subcellular
size of cellular organelles, a patch of membrane
-7
0.0000001
100 nanometers
subcellular
-8
0.00000001
10 nanometers
molecular
wavelength of visible light, viruses, between the
molecule and the cell
wavelength of x-rays, DNA supercoils
-9
10
0.000000001
1 nanometer (nm)
molecular
size of biomolecules, width of DNA
10-10
0.0000000001
atomic
the size of atoms
10-11
0.00000000001
100 picometer
(1 angstrom)
10 picometer
subatomic
surface of inner electron orbital
10
0.000000000001
1 picometer (pm)
subatomic
void between the nucleus and electrons
10-13
0.0000000000001
100 femtometers
subatomic
size of atomic nuclei
-14
0.00000000000001
10 femtometers
subatomic
subatomic particles; protons & neutrons
-15
0.000000000000001
1 femtometer (fm)
fundamental
fundamental particles; quarks
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
1010
9
7
10
10
10
10
10
10
-3
-5
10
10
-12
10
10