Units and Unit conversion ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Length 1 centimeter = 0.3937 inches 12 inches = 1 foot 1 inch = 2.54 centimeters 1 foot = 0.3048 meters 3 feet = 1 yard 1760 yards = 1 mile 5280 feet = 1 mile 1 yard = 0.9144 meters 1 meter = 3.28083 feet 1 kilometer = 3281 feet 1 kilometer = 0.6214 miles 3 miles = 1 league ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Mass 1kg = 2.2045 lb 1oz = 28.3511 g 1lb = 16oz 1g = 0.035272 oz ---------------------------------------------------------------------- deci = 0.1 (1/10) deka = 10 centi = 0.01 (1/100) hecto = 100 milli = 0.001 (1/1000) kilo = 1000 --------------------------------- Scales of Measurement Version 1.7 --------------------------------- An XMOSAIC page has been created for my timelines and scales of measurement list. The URL is the following: http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/niel/scales/scales.html If you are not able to obtain one of my lists via XMOSAIC or usenet, please send me an email request and I will email you the list you want. Please specify desired format (ASCII or TEX). Thank you, Niel Brandt niel@astro.psu.edu This document is copyright Niel Brandt 1994. You are allowed to copy, distribute, and edit this document at will without any obligation as long as you do not remove the above header. Reproduction and distribution for personal profit is not permitted. --------------------------------------------------------------------- SCALES OF MEASUREMENT VERSION 1.7 William Nielsen Brandt --- niel@astro.psu.edu --------------------------------------------------------------------- Revised for mechanics homeschooling class by John Feldmeier ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 x 10^{-21} seconds Electron light crossing time 1 x 10^{-13} seconds Typical period of vibration of an atom in a solid 3.6 x 10^{0} seconds Time it takes to say supercalifragilisticexpaladocus 3.0 x 10^{2} seconds Approximate time to microwave a TV dinner 5.4 x 10^{3} seconds Length of this class (per week) 8.6 x 10^{4} seconds Earth rotation time 3.2 x 10^{7} seconds Earth orbit time around the Sun 1.9 x 10^{11} seconds Carbon-14 half-life 3 x 10^{13} seconds Rough time for evolution of a biological species 1.6 x 10^{14} seconds Main sequence lifetime for a 30 solar mass star 6 x 10^{16} seconds Time for galaxy to cross a cluster 1.5 x 10^{17} seconds Age of Earth and Sun 1.5 x 10^{17} seconds Uranium-238 half-life 3.3 x 10^{17} seconds Sun nuclear time scale 4.1 x 10^{17} seconds Age of the universe 1 x 10^{39} seconds Lower limit on the proton lifetime 4.7 x 10^{73} seconds 1 solar mass black hole Hawking evaporation time 1.5 x 10^{-18} meters Classical proton radius 4 x 10^{-17} meters LIGO 4 km gravity-wave detector needed sensitivity 2.8 x 10^{-15} meters Classical electron radius 2.6 x 10^{-10} meters Copper atom spacing in solid copper 3.5 x 10^{-10} meters H2O molecular diameter 3.4 x 10^{-9} meters DNA double helix turn length 6 x 10^{-8} meters Typical rms surface error of a Keck telescope mirror 7.0 x 10^{-8} meters Molecular mean free path in the atmosphere 1 x 10^{-7} meters Typical size of a virus 4 x 10^{-6} meters Typical size of a cell 2 x 10^{-4} meters Small dust particle size 0.03 meters Lunar laser ranging accuracy (Science 265, 482) 0.068 meters Unraveled human DNA strand length 0.76 meters Length of a adult man pace 1.8 meters Man 30 meters Blue Whale 310 meters Approximate length of Queen Elizabeth II 3700 meters Mean ocean depth 8847 meters Height of Mount Everest 10000 meters Typical asteroid radius 11032 meters Depth of the Mariana Trench 12000 meters Typical airliner cruising altitute 30000 meters Typical thickness of the Earth's crust 3.2 x 10^{6} meters Length of the Great Wall of China 6.3 x 10^{6} meters Radius of the Earth 4.2 x 10^{7} meters Geostationary satellite orbit height 7.1 x 10^{7} meters Radius of Jupiter 3.8 x 10^{8} meters Distance to the Moon 7.0 x 10^{8} meters Radius of the Sun 1.50 x 10^{11} meters Earth/Sun mean distance 5 x 10^{11} meters Radius of the 20 solar mass red supergiant Betelgeuse at maximum light 5.91 x 10^{12} meters Pluto/Sun mean distance 9.46 x 10^{15} meters 1 light-year 3.08 x 10^{16} meters 1 parsec 4 x 10^{16} meters Nearest nonsolar star to Earth 2.4 x 10^{20} meters Distance from Sun to galactic center 3.9 x 10^{20} meters Milky Way disk radius 1.5 x 10^{21} meters Distance to the LMC 7 x 10^{23} meters Distance to the center of the Virgo cluster of galaxies 1 x 10^{-9} m s^{-1} Sea floor spreading rate 2 x 10^{-8} m s^{-1} Grass growth rate 3 x 10^{-6} m s^{-1} Typical glacial advance rate 1 x 10^{-3} m s^{-1} Approximate speed of a snail 1.3 m s^{-1} Human walking speed 5.2 m s^{-1} Human bicycling speed 25 m s^{-1} Car speed 28 m s^{-1} Cheetah (max speed) 100 m s^{-1} Typical speed of an electric pulse in the nervous system 330 m s^{-1} Sound speed in air 480 m s^{-1} Earth's atmosphere molecular rms velocity 600 m s^{-1} Fighter jet speed 11000 m s^{-1} Escape velocity from the Earth's surface 29000 m s^{-1} Earth's motion around the Sun 1 x 10^{5} m s^{-1} Average speed of the initial stroke of a lightning flash 2.2 x 10^{5} m s^{-1} Rotational velocity of the Sun around the Milky Way's center 2.998 x 10^{8} m s^{-1} Light in a vacuum 4.2 x 10^{-36} kilograms Mass equivalent of a green light photon 9.11 x 10^{-31} kilograms Electron mass 1.67 x 10^{-27} kilograms Proton mass 4.8 x 10^{-26} kilograms Mean mass of atmosphere molecule 1 x 10^{-22} kilograms Typical protein molecule mass 8 x 10^{-15} kilograms Rough mass of a human DNA molecule 7 x 10^{-13} kilograms Typical mass of a cell 1 x 10^{-5} kilograms Typical mosquito mass 0.02 kilograms Typical goldfish mass 70 kilograms Typical human mass 100 kilograms Meteorite mass before entry into Earth's atmosphere 1000 kilograms Car 10000 kilograms Tyrannosaurus Rex 1 x 10^{13} kilograms Typical comet mass 3 x 10^{14} kilograms Typical mountain mass 1.1 x 10^{16} kilograms Superterranean biomass of Earth (ocean organisms are included) 5.3 x 10^{18} kilograms Total mass of Earth's atmosphere 3 x 10^{19} kilograms Typical asteroid mass 1.4 x 10^{21} kilograms Total mass of Earth's oceans 7.3 x 10^{22} kilograms Mass of the Moon 5.98 x 10^{24} kilograms Mass of the Earth 1.9 x 10^{27} kilograms Mass of Jupiter 1.6 x 10^{29} kilograms Minimum mass to fusion burn hydrogen 1.99 x 10^{30} kilograms Mass of the Sun 2.8 x 10^{30} kilograms Chandrasekhar mass (maximum mass for a white dwarf) 4 x 10^{31} kilograms Rough stellar mass above which the evolutionary endpoint is a black hole 7 x 10^{41} kilograms Rough mass of the Milky Way (visible and dark matter) 2.7 x 10^{45} kilograms Rough virial mass of the Coma galaxy cluster 4 x 10^{-21} joules kT_room = translational kinetic energy of atmosphere gas molecule 3 x 10^{-20} joules Molecular vibration transition 3.8 x 10^{-19} joules Green light photon 2.2 x 10^{-18} joules Hydrogen n=1 binding energy 1.6 x 10^{-16} joules 1 keV X-ray 1.5 x 10^{-15} joules Hydrogenic iron n=1 binding energy 8.18 x 10^{-14} joules Electron rest mass 1.6 x 10^{-13} joules 1 MeV gamma-ray 4.3 x 10^{-12} joules Energy from 4 x ^1 H ---> ^4 He 1.50 x 10^{-10} joules Proton rest mass 10 joules Well hit tennis ball 2 x 10^{5} joules Energy from a light bulb burning for 1 hour 4.2 x 10^{9} joules Explosion energy of 1 ton of TNT 2 x 10^{10} joules Rough energy of a lightning flash 2 x 10^{11} joules Rough human total energy output in a lifetime 1.5 x 10^{14} joules Typical atomic bomb explosion energy 1 x 10^{17} joules Powerful H-bomb explosion energy 3 x 10^{17} joules Elastic wave energy release from a large (M=8.5) earthquake 9 x 10^{18} joules USA electricity usage in 1986 2.5 x 10^{22} joules Energy from the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 fragment G impact on Jupiter 1 x 10^{24} joules Power released by an evaporating black hole during the last second of its life 7 x 10^{34} joules Total rotational energy of the planets 1.3 x 10^{44} joules Total radiant energy from the Sun 3 x 10^{44} joules Energy in photons from a type II supernova explosion 3 x 10^{46} joules Energy in neutrinos from a type II supernova explosion 5 x 10^{57} joules Typical gravitational binding energy of a cluster of galaxies 4 x 10^{-6} watts Average energy output from 1 kilogram of the Milky Way 1 x 10^{-3} watts Optical disc player laser 6 watts Amateur short wave radio transmitter 60 watts Light bulb 100 watts Gravitational wave power from the Earth-Sun system 150 watts Human being under normal conditions 750 watts Maximum long duration horse output 1500 watts Typical fireplace fire 20000 watts Car 1 x 10^{5} watts Running Tyrannosaurus Rex 3 x 10^{8} watts Nuclear power reactor 3 x 10^{8} watts Moderate thunderstorm electrical power generation rate 1.3 x 10^{9} watts Hoover dam 3 x 10^{11} watts USA average electricity usage rate in 1986 1 x 10^{23} watts Typical white dwarf luminosity 3.9 x 10^{26} watts Solar luminosity 1 x 10^{28} watts Typical X-ray luminosity of an X-ray pulsar 2.4 x 10^{29} watts 5 solar mass star on main sequence 2 x 10^{31} watts Eddington limit for a 1.4 solar mass neutron star 5 x 10^{35} watts Type II supernova peak photon luminosity 3 x 10^{36} watts Milky Way 1.5 x 10^{38} watts Coma cluster X-ray gas luminosity 1 x 10^{39} watts Typical quasar luminosity 1 x 10^{42} watts Rough luminosity of a cosmological gamma-ray burst