Lengths in the universe span 60 orders of magnitude — from 10⁻¹⁵ m (proton) to 10⁴⁵ m (observable universe).
Try this
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what's about 10ⁿ metres across? = 10^0 m ~ 1 metre — a small child
Powers of ten
Each step on the slider multiplies length by 10. Going from a person (10⁰ m) to a galaxy (≈10²¹ m) is 21 such steps — and to a proton (≈10⁻¹⁵ m) is 15 steps the other way. Writing sizes as 10ⁿ (scientific notation) is the only sane way to compare them.
Some landmarks
- 10⁻¹⁰ m — an atom (1 ångström)
- 10⁻³ m — a millimetre
- 10⁰ m — about your height
- ~10⁷ m — Earth's diameter (≈12,700 km)
- ~10¹⁶ m — about one light-year
- ~10²⁶ m — the observable universe
From the smallest meaningful length (≈10⁻³⁵ m, the Planck length) to the observable universe (≈10²⁷ m) is roughly 60 orders of magnitude — a 1 followed by 60 zeros.