How Big is a ... ?

How Big is a ... ?

The head of a pin is about 2mm in diameter. Use this animation to compare the relative sizes of cells and organisms sitting on a pinhead. Nearly invisible without magnification, dust mites dwarf pollen grains and human cells. In turn, bacteria and viruses are even smaller.

Download this and other animations for a single user or for an entire classroom.
HowBig is also available as a ready-to-use PowerPoint® Slide Presentation.

How to use:

Use the left and right arrows to change magnification.

Click on the magnifications (1, 10, 100...) for a "Power of Ten" zoom.

Choose an individual cell or organism (right) to bring it into view.

Use the scale to measure individual cells.

1 millimeter = 0.001 meter
1 micron = 0.000001 meter
1 nanometer = 0.000000001 meter

Some Keywords:

metric system, micron, angstrom, virus, bacteria, nanotechnology

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How Big is a ... ?

Some Keywords: