Examples of Nanoscale Objects

Redheaded young woman in nature at sunset
A strand of hair is about 80,000 to 100,000 nanometers wide.

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By
Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.
Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.
Chemistry Expert
  • Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
  • B.A., Physics and Mathematics, Hastings College
Dr. Helmenstine holds a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences and is a science writer, educator, and consultant. She has taught science courses at the high school, college, and graduate levels.
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Updated on January 04, 2020

You probably know that a nanometer is 1/1,000,000,000 of a meter or 10-9 meters, but do you have a feel for just how small a nanometer is? Here are some examples of nanoscale objects, plus the length of common objects expressed in nanometers.

The Amazing Smallness of Our World

  • Your fingernails grow at the rate of about 1 nanometer per second.
  • A single water molecule is about 1.5 nanometers.
  • A strand of human DNA is 2.5 nanometers in diameter.
  • A single hemoglobin molecule is 5 nanometers across.
  • A single bacterium is about 1,000 nanometers long.
  • A strand of hair is about 80,000 to 100,000 nanometers wide.
  • A sheet of paper is 100,000 nanometers thick.
  • An ant is 5 million nanometers long.
  • The human hand is 100 million nanometers long.
  • A 7-foot-tall basketball player is 2 billion nanometers tall.
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Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "Examples of Nanoscale Objects." ThoughtCo, Aug. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/examples-of-nanoscale-608575. Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. (2020, August 28). Examples of Nanoscale Objects. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/examples-of-nanoscale-608575 Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "Examples of Nanoscale Objects." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/examples-of-nanoscale-608575 (accessed June 10, 2023).