Benchmark quantities

Benchmark Values for (Nearly) Any Type of Physical Quantity

When encountering the unfamiliar in terms of the very large or the very small, this page is meant to help put the unfamiliar into perspective. For example, people know that a million miles (or kilometers) is a very long distance. But what is it comparable to? You probably know that it's larger than a typical continent ... or than Earth itself. But is it comparable to the distance to the Moon, or perhaps to the Sun? Or to the nearest star other than the Sun? Or to the size of our galaxy ... or the distance to the nearest galaxy?

Likewise, one millionth of an inch (or of a centimeter) is certainly small, but is it most comparable to the size of an atomic nucleus, a whole atom, a virus, or perhaps a single-celled organism?

Besides distances, similar questions can be asked about very fast or very slow speeds, very large or small masses, or time spans, or temperatures, ... and many other types of physical quantities.

Every quantity is given in terms of S.I. (metric) units. In some cases, alternative units are given if they are in common use. For example, the distance between Earth and the Sun, besides being given in meters, is also one Astronomical Unit (AU) by definition, and the AU is used for the distances to other objects within the solar system as well. Still larger distances are well represented by using light-years.

Density

Density is a measure of how compact a material substance is. It can be calculated by dividing the total mass of a material sample by the sample's volume. Density can be thought of as a combined effect between how close together the atoms in a material are, as well as how massive the individual atoms are. In solids and liquids, the atoms or molecules are closer together than in a gas, so are considerably more dense than gases such as air.

There is a limit to how closely atoms can be packed together under normal conditions, so there is a limit to how high a normal material density can be. To achieve higher densities then requires special conditions, for example those found in the core of a star, or inside an atomic nucleus or neutron star.

The SI unit of density is kilograms per cubic meter (kg/m³). Alternative units are grams per cubic centimeter (g/cm³).

Quick scale: The sun, while on average only 40% denser than water, is 160 times denser than water in its core. Common metals such as steel, copper, and lead are around 10 times denser than water, which is 800 times denser than air. Helium is roughly 1/7 the density of air.

Value, in kilograms per cubic meter	Alternative Units	Description
2.2 x 10-27		Dark matter, average for universe
4-5 x 10-22		Dark matter, near solar system
6 x 10-22		Dark matter, in Milky Way halo
1 x 10-12 1 trillionth		Air, ultra-high vacuum conditions (10-9 mbar or 10-12 atm)
0.18		Helium, 20 C and atmospheric pressure
1.2		Air, 20 C and atmospheric pressure
9.0		Compressed air, 20 C, 96 psig (111 psia or 7.5 atm abs.)
250	0.25 g/cc	Balsa wood
534	0.534 g/cc	Lithium, the lowest-density solid element
1000	1 g/cc	Water
1400	1.4 g/cc	Sun (average)
2200-3400	2.2-3.4 g/cc	Typical rocks
2700	2.7 g/cc	Aluminum
5500	5.5 g/cc	Earth (average)
8000, 9000	8, 9 g/cc	Steel, copper
11,400	11.4 g/cc	Lead
12,000	12 g/cc	Earth's core
22,600	22.6 g/cc	Osmium, the densest element
160,000	160 g/cc	The sun's core (est.)
~1 x 1017		Neutron star or atomic nucleus

Dimensionless values

A dimensionless value or quantity has no associated units such as meters or kilograms. It is simply a pure number. Examples include the fraction of air molecules that are oxygen (0.21 or 21%), the number pi (3.14159...), and Avogadro's number (6.02 x 10²³.

Loosely speaking, numbers can be classified as either very small compared to the number 1, comparable to 1, or very large compared to 1. For small numbers, alternate units can be given in terms of percent (%) or parts per million (ppm).

Value	Alternative Units	Description
Composition of air
0.0004	0.04%, 400 ppm	Fraction of air molecules that are carbon dioxide (0% humidity)
0.009	0.9%	Fraction of air molecules that are argon (0% humidity)
0.006, 0.023, 0.073	0.6%, 2.3%, 7.3%	Fraction of air molecules that are water vapor at 100% humidity and temperatures of 0, 20, 40 C (32, 68, 104 F), respectively
0.21	21%	Fraction of air molecules that are oxygen (0% humidity)
0.78	78%	Fraction of air molecules that are nitrogen (0% humidity)
0.25-0.3	25-30%	Efficiency of a typical thermodynamic heat engine
1	100%	One. Unity. The multiplicative identity.
3 (approx.)		The numbers pi (3.14159...) and e (2.71828...)
3		The number of quarks in a proton or neutron
8		The number of planets in the solar system
22-23		The number of revolutions the Sun has made around the galaxy
208		The number of protons and neutrons, combined, in a nucleus of lead-208, the heaviest stable atomic nucleus
4.5 x 106 4.5 million		Median population of a state in the U.S.A. 2010 census: average of Louisiana and Kentucky, the 25th- and 26th-most populous states, respectively
3.7 x 107 37 million		Population of Tokyo (2018), the most populous city in the world
3.1 x 108 310 million		Population of the USA (2010 census)
1-4 x 109 1-4 billion		Estimated number of stars in the Milky Way galaxy
7 x 109 7 billion		Population of the world (2010)
6 x 1023	1 mole	Avogadro's number The number of hydrogen atoms in 1 gram, or the number of carbon-12 atoms in 12 grams
9.9 x 1024	16 moles	The number of molecules in 10 fluid ounces of water

Distance, length, height

Distance, length, and height are what may typically come to mind upon hearing the phrase "take a measurement".

The SI unit of length is the meter (m). Alternative units include:

Angstroms

Inches

Feet

Miles

Astronomical units (AU)

Light years

Parsecs

Quick scale: The Sun's diameter is about 100 times that of Earth, which is about 8 million times bigger than the height of a typical person. A person's height is about 250 times the size of a housefly, which in turn is about 60 million times bigger than the diameter of an atom of hydrogen.

Value, in meters	Alternative Units	Description
1.6 x 10-35		Planck length
1.8 x 10-15		Diameter of a proton (hydrogen nucleus)
1-1.2 x 10-14	10-12 fm	Diameter of nucleus for heavy atoms
5.3 x 10-11 53 trillionths	0.53 Angstroms	Radius of hydrogen atom (Bohr model)
3 x 10-8 30 billionths	30 nm	rhinovirus (cold virus) diameter
0.8-1.2 x 10-7 80 to 120 billionths	80-120 nm	Influenza virus diameter
0.2-3 x 10-7 20 to 300 billionths	20-300 nm	Virus diameter (typical range)
4-7 x 10-7 400 to 700 billionths, or around half of one millionth	400-700 nm	Wavelength range of visible light
0.1-600 x 10-6 0.1 to 600 millionths		Bacterium
1-2 x 10-5 10 to 20 millionths	0.01-0.02 mm, 0.0004-0.0008 inches	Amoeba (typical)
1 x 10-4 100 millionths	0.1 mm, 0.004 or 1/250 inch	Human hair thickness (typical)
6-7 x 10-3	6-7 mm, 1/4 inch	Housefly length (typical)
1.5-1.8	5-6 feet	Human height (typical)
25	82 feet	Blue whale length
527	1729 feet	Sears Tower height (to top of antenna)
8800	29,000 feet, 5.5 miles	Mount Everest, height above sea level
4 x 106 4 million	4000 km, 2500 miles	North America, width at approx. 40 degrees North latitude; Los Angeles-to-New York distance
1.3 x 107 13 million	13,000 km, 7900 miles	Earth's diameter
3.0 x 108 300 million	190,000 miles	One light-second, the distance that light travels in one second
3.8 x 108 380 million	240,000 miles	Earth-Moon distance
1.4 x 109 1.4 billion	870,000 miles	The Sun's diameter
1.5 x 1011 150 billion	1 Astronomical Unit (AU) 93 million miles 150 million km	Earth-Sun average distance
4.5 x 1012 4.5 trillion	30 AU	Sun-Neptune distance
9.46 x 1015	1 light-year 63.2 thousand AU	The distance that light travels in one year
3.09 x 1016	3.26 light years	1 parsec
4.0 x 1016	4.2 ly	Sun-Proxima Centauri distance
8.6 x 1017	91 light years	Geometric mean of distances to 20 brightest stars, excluding the Sun (One measure of a "typical" distance to the brighter stars in the sky)
3.2 x 1018	340 light years	Mean of distances to 20 brightest stars, excluding the Sun (Another measure of a "typical" distance to the brighter stars in the sky)
9.5 x 1020	100,000 light years	Diameter of our galaxy, the Milky Way
1.5 x 1021	160,000 light years	Distance to Large Magellanic Cloud
2.4 x 1022	2.5 million light years	Distance to Andromeda galaxy

Energy

Value, in joules	Alternative Units	Description
9.4 x 10-25	5.9 x 10-6 eV	Hyperfine energy difference in the ground state of a hydrogen atom
6.1 x 10-21	0.038 eV	Energy of cesium-133 hyperfine transition used to define the second
1.60 x 10-19	1 eV	One electronvolt
2.8 x 10-19	1.8 eV	Low energy of visible-light photon (red, 700 nm wavelength)
5.0 x 10-19	3.1 eV	High energy of visible-light photon (violet, 400 nm wavelength)
2.2 x 10-18	13.6 eV	Energy to ionize a hydrogen atom
8.2 x 10-14	0.5110 MeV	Electron rest-mass energy
1.5 x 10-10 150 trillionths	938.3 MeV	Proton rest-mass energy
5 x 10-5 50 millionths		Kinetic energy of housefly flying (12 mg, 3 m/s)
4.2	1 calorie (with lowercase "c")	One calorie, or the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 C.
70		Kinetic energy of human walking (80 kg, 1.3 m/s or 3 mph)
1055	1 BTU	One British thermal unit
2400		Kinetic energy of 0.22 caliber long-rifle bullet (40 g, 346 m/s)
4200	1 Calorie (with uppercase "C") or 1000 calories (with lowercase "c")	One "food Calorie", or the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1 C.
4300		Kinetic energy of human world-class sprinter (80 kg, 10.4 m/s)
11,000	0.003 kW-h	Electrical energy in a battery: AA cell (1.5 volts, 2000 mA-hours)
0.99 x 104 99,000		Energy to melt "10 fluid ounces" (300 g) of ice Note: 10 fluid ounces of water are produced after melting. This is the same energy needed to raise the temperature of liquid water by 80 C or 143 F.
1.2 x 105 120,000		Energy to heat 10 fluid ounces (300 g) of liquid water from 0 C to 100 C (32 F to 212 F)
6.7 x 105 670,000		Energy to boil 10 fluid ounces (300 g) of water
3.6 x 106 3.6 million	1 kW-h	One kilowatt-hour A good example benchmark to answer the question: How small is one joule of energy? Answer: A kilowatt-hour of electricity typically costs around 10 cents (ballpark value). A joule of electricity then costs less than one-millionth of that. So a joule is a really small amount of energy.
2.2 x 108 220 million		Energy consumed by 60 W filament lightbulb in 1000 hours lifetime.
3.7 x 109 3.7 billion		Potential energy of satellite-Earth system: 1000 kg satellite at 400 km altitude
2.9 x 1010 29 billion		Kinetic energy of 1000 kg satellite in 400 km altitude low-Earth orbit This is roughly eight times the potential energy of raising the satellite to this altitude.
9.0 x 1016		Rest-mass energy of one kilogram of mass
1 x 1019		Annual electrical consumption of USA (1999)
1.8 x 1032		Difference in kinetic energy of Earth at perihelion and aphelion (relative to the Sun) Difference in potential energy of Earth-Sun system at perihelion and aphelion
2.65 x 1033		Kinetic energy of Earth, in the Sun's rest frame
-5.30 x 1033		Gravitational potential energy of the Sun and Earth, relative to infinite separation

Frequency

Frequency is the repetition rate at which cyclical (repetitive) phenomena repeat.

This section is for cyclical or periodic phenomena other than those involving rotations or revolutions, which are covered in the section "speed, angular or rotational"

Frequency can be measured in terms of the number of cycles per second, or hertz (Hz), for example the 50 or 60 cycles per second used for common household electricity. Alternatively, it can be expressed in terms of the repeat time period, for example "once every 12 hours and 25 minutes" in the case of ocean tides.

Quick scale: The frequency of a visible light wave is about 4 to 7 million times greater than that of a typical FM radio wave, which is about 500 thousand times greater than that of household electricity.

Value, in hertz	Alternative Units	Description
2.2 x 10-5 22 millionths	Once every 12 hours and 25 minutes	Ocean tides
50 or 60		Household electrical outlet
20 - 20,000		Audible sound
1 x 106 1 million		1000 kHz AM radio frequency
1 x 108 100 million		100 MHz FM radio frequency
2.45 x 109 2.45 billion		Microwave oven frequency
9.19 x 109 9.19 billion		Frequency of cesium-133 hyperfine transition used to define the second
4.3-7.5 x 1014 430 to 750 trillion		Frequency of visible light (700-400 nm wavelength)

Magnetic field (a.k.a. magnetic flux density)

Most of us are familiar with magnets in our everyday lives. This section lists the strengths of various magnetic phenomena.

The SI unit of magnetic field strength is the tesla (T). Alternative units are in gauss (G).

Quick scale: The magnetic field strength used for an MRI is between 50 to 300 times stronger than a common household refrigerator magnet, which in turn is 300 times stronger than Earth's magnetic field.

Value, in tesla	Alternative Units	Description
2.5 to 6.5 x 10-4 25 to 65 millionths	0.25 to 0.65 G	Earth's magnetic field at Earth's surface (0.25 G near the equator, 0.65 G near the poles)
0.01	100 G	Common household refrigerator magnet
0.5 to 3		Field used for MRI
45		Highest human-made magnetic field, continuous use
100		Highest human-made magnetic field, repeatable pulses (0.015 second pulse duration)

Mass

Mass is the quantity of matter that comprises an object. Strictly speaking, mass is different than weight, which is the strength of the force (or "pull") of gravity on an object. A person standing on the Moon has the same mass, but less weight, than they do when standing on Earth.

The SI unit of mass is the kilogram (kg). Alternate units include:

milligrams (mg)

grams (g)

avoirdupois ounces (oz), not to be confused with fluid ounces

pounds (lbs)

solar masses

Quick scale: The Sun's mass is about 300,000 times that of Earth, which is of order 10²³ -- i.e., 1 followed by twenty-three 0s -- times that of a typical person. A typical person is about 6 million times more massive than a housefly, which in turn is of order 10²² times more massive than an atom of hydrogen.

Value, in kilograms	Alternative Units	Description
9.1 x 10-31		Electron
1.7 x 10-27	1836 times the mass of the electron	Proton, or hydrogen atom
3.5 x 10-25		Lead-208, the heaviest stable atomic isotope
1.2 x 10-5 12 millionths	12 mg	Housefly
0.040	40 g	Standard-velocity 0.22 caliber bullet
0.30	300 grams, 10.4 ounces	10 fluid ounces of water
4-8	10-20 lbs	House cat
75	165 lbs	Human (typical)
1-2 x 105 100,000 to 200,000	200,000-400,000 lbs, 100-200 tons	Blue whale
6 x 109 6 billion	13 billion lbs	Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt
6 x 1010 60 billion	130 billion lbs	Three Gorges Dam, Hubei province, China
5 x 1018	1 x 1019 lbs	Earth's atmosphere
1.4 x 1021	3 x 1021 lbs	Earth's oceans
7.3 x 1022		The Moon
6.0 x 1024		Earth
1.9 x 1027		Jupiter
2.0 x 1030	1 solar mass	The Sun
1.5 x 1031	7.5 solar masses	Betelgeuse, a supergiant star
1.3 x 1032	65 solar masses	Total mass of binary black hole system in first-ever detection of gravitational waves (2015)
8.2 x 1036	4.1 x 106 solar masses	Black hole at center of Milky Way galaxy
1 x 1040	6-7 x 109 solar masses	Black hole in M87, the first black hole ever imaged (2019)
1 x 1042	5 x 1011 solar masses	Milky Way galaxy (our galaxy)
2-3 x 1042		Local group of galaxies
2-3 x 1045		Local (Virgo) supercluster of galaxies

Temperature

While Celsius and Fahrenheit are two commonly used temperature scales, for comparison purposes it is best to use an absolute temperature scale, so Kelvins (K) are the main units in the listings below.

Value, in Kelvins	Alternative Units	Description
0	-273 C, -460 F	Absolute zero
2.7		Cosmic microwave background
4.2 and less		Liquid helium
20 and less		Liquid hydrogen
77 and less		Liquid nitrogen
90 and less		Liquid oxygen
184	-89 C, -128 F	Coldest recorded (natural) temperature on Earth (Vostok Station, Antarctica, on July 21, 1983)
195 and less	-78 C, -109 F	"Dry ice", frozen carbon dioxide
273	0 C, 32 F	Water freezes, or cold weather
293-296	20-23 C, 68-73 F	Room temperature, or mild weather
310	37.0 C, 98.6 F	Human body temperature, or very hot weather
373	100 C, 212 F	Water boils
450	177 C, 350 F	Moderately hot household oven
530	260 C, 500 F	Very hot household oven
770	500 C, 930 F	Faintly red-hot object
970	700 C, 1300 F	Moderately red-hot object
2800	2500 C, 4600 F	Tungsten lightbulb filament (typical), a white-hot object
5800	5500 C, 9900 F	The Sun's surface
10,000	9700 C, 17,500 F	Surface of a blue-hot star. Examples: Sirius is 9940 K. Rigel is 11,000 K.
1.5 x 107 15 million	1.5 x 107 C, 2.7 x 107 F	The Sun's center

Time

Note, the repeat periods of cyclical phenomena, like the cycle time of a typical sound frequency, are not generally included here. Doing so would simply repeat information that can be found in the frequency section of this article. An exception is made for the period of rotation or revolution of astronomical bodies such as Earth or the Moon, since these have historically served as standard definitions of time intervals like the day or the year.

Value, in seconds	Alternative Units	Description
5.39 x 10-44		Planck time
1.1 x 10-10 110 trillionths		Period of cesium-133 hyperfine transition used to define the second
1.6 x 10-9 1.6 billionths		Lifetime of the first excited state of a hydrogen atom
0.2		Human reaction time (typical)
1.3		Light travel time, Earth to the Moon (one-way)
500	8.3 minutes	Light travel time, Earth to the Sun (one-way)
5500	92 minutes	Orbital period of satellite at 400 km altitude
86,400	1 Day	One day
2.36 x 106 2.36 million	27.3 days	Orbital period of the Moon
2.55 x 106 2.55 million	29.5 days	Synodic period of the Moon, or period of the Moon's phases
3.16 x 107 31.6 million	1 Year	Orbital period of Earth
2.4 x 109 2.4 billion	76 years	Human lifetime (typical)
7.8 x 109 7.8 billion	248 years	Orbital period of Pluto
1.2 x 1013 12 trillion	380,000 years	Age of the universe when neutral hydrogen atoms formed
6.2 x 1015	200 million or 0.20 billion years	Orbital period of the Sun around the galaxy
1.4 x 1017	4.5 billion years	Age of the solar system
4.3 x 1017	13.7 billion years	Age of the universe

Speed

In addition to representing the rate at which something moves, speed can also represent the rate at which two objects either approach each other or separate, as in the case of Africa and South America.

The SI unit of speed is meters per second (m/s), and alternative units can be based on any alternative units for time and/or distance. Extremely fast speeds can be given in comparison to the speed of light c, e.g. (2/3)c for two-thirds as fast as the speed of light.

Quick scale: The speed of light is 30 million times faster than a fast human sprinter, and a fast sprinter is 5 billion times faster than the speed at which Africa and South America are moving apart from one another.

Value, in meters per second	Alternative Units	Description
2 x 10-9 2 billionths	6 cm or 2 inches per year	Rate of separation of Africa and South America
1 x 10-7 100 billionths	3 inches per week	Rate at which grass grows (est.)
7 x 10-6 7 millionths		Tip of hour hand on a wall clock (2" length)
2 x 10-4 or 0.0002 200 millionths		Tip of minute hand on a wall clock (4" length)
0.01	1 cm or 0.4 inches per second	Tip of second hand on a wall clock (4" length)
0.03	1 inch per second	Insect walking
1.3	3 miles per hour (mph)	Human walking
6.7	"4-minute mile" 15 mph	Fast human distance runner
10	100 meters in 10 seconds 22 mph	Fast human sprinter
27	60 mph	Automobile highway speed
107	240 mph	Approx. top speed of Indy race car
343		Speed of sound (dry air, atmospheric pressure, 20 C temperature) Standard muzzle velocity of 0.22 caliber long rifle
460		Speed of Earth's surface at equator
510		Speed (rms) of air molecule at around room temperature (27 C, 300 K)
1020		The Moon (relative to Earth)
2700		Speed (rms) of a hydrogen atom at around room temperature (27 C, 300 K)
3100		Satellite in geosynchronous orbit (rela. to Earth)
4700		Pluto (rela. to the Sun)
7670		Satellite in low-Earth orbit (400 km altitude)
30,000		Earth (rela. to the Sun)
48,000		Mercury (rela. to the Sun)
200,000	c/1500	The Sun (rela. to the center of our galaxy
2.2 x 106 2.2 million	c/137, or roughly 1% of the speed of light	Speed of electron in hydrogen ground state (Bohr model)
2 x 108 200 million	(2/3)c	Speed of light in glass Speed of electronic signal in typical coaxial cable
2.6 x 108 260 million	0.87c	Speed of an object when its kinetic energy is equal to its rest mass energy mc2
3 x 108 300 million	186,000 miles per second	The speed of light, c

Speed, angular or rotational

This section is for rotational (spinning) motion or the revolution (orbiting) of an object about another object. For non-rotational, periodic phenomena, see the frequency section.

Values are given in terms of cycles (rotations or revolutions) per second. Revolutions per minute (rpm) are used as well.

Quick scale: Air molecules at room temperature spin roughly 100 billion times faster than a car engine, which in turn spins one to ten million times faster than Earth about its axis.

Value, in cycles per second (hertz)	Alternative Units	Description
3.17 x 10-8 317 billionths	Once per year	Revolution of Earth about the Sun
1.16 x 10-5 11.6 millionths	Once every 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds, or roughly once per day	Rotation of Earth about its axis
0.0167 or 1/60	1 rpm	One revolution per minute
0.556, 0.75, 1.3	33-1/3, 45, 78 rpm	Phonograph records The progression from 78 to 33-1/3 rpm records is a mid-20th-century example of increasing data storage density.
12.5	750 rpm	Car engine, idling
83-100	5000-6000 rpm	Car engine, typical maximum speed
6 x 1012	4 x 1014 rpm	Typical rotation speed of an air molecule at room temperature