femtometers
Atomic nucleus scale
Femtometers are units of length equal to one quadrillionth of a meter (10⁻¹⁵ meters).
This extraordinarily small scale is used primarily in nuclear and particle physics to measure things like atomic nuclei and the distances between subatomic particles.
A proton, for instance, has a diameter of roughly 1.7 femtometers.
The prefix femto- derives from the Danish word for fifteen, referencing the decimal placement.
Trillionths of a meter
- angstromsTen-billionths of meters
- wavelengthSpatial repetition interval
- subatomicSmaller than atoms
- infinitesimalQuantity approaching zero
Fundamental hadron components
- leptonsFundamental particles, not quarks
- bosonsInteger-spin subatomic particles
- fermionsHalf-spin matter constituents
- muonsUnstable charged leptons
neutrinos · antiparticles · collider · CERN · cross-section · high-energy · accelerator · detector
Positive nuclear particle
- neutronUncharged nuclear particle
- nucleusCentral controlling part
- nucleonProton or neutron
- quarkFundamental matter particle
gluon · hadron · baryon · meson · confinement · nucleosynthesis · fission · fusion
Adjusting for measurement accuracy
- precisionAccuracy of measurement
- instrumentationDesign of measuring devices
- spectroscopyStudy of light-matter interaction
- interferometryMeasurement using wave combination patterns
scattering · diffraction · quantify · resolution · sensitivity · detection · accuracy · tolerance
picometers
Trillionths of a meter
- angstromsTen-billionths of meters
- wavelengthSpatial repetition interval
- subatomicSmaller than atoms
infinitesimal · minuscule · imperceptible · nanoscopic · microscopic
quarks
Fundamental hadron components
- leptonsFundamental particles, not quarks
- bosonsInteger-spin subatomic particles
- fermionsHalf-spin matter constituents
muons · neutrinos · antiparticles · collider · CERN · cross-section · high-energy · accelerator · detector · interaction
proton
Positive nuclear particle
quark · gluon · hadron · baryon · meson · confinement · nucleosynthesis · fission · fusion · isotope
calibration
Adjusting for measurement accuracy
- precisionAccuracy of measurement
- instrumentationDesign of measuring devices
- spectroscopyStudy of light-matter interaction
interferometry · scattering · diffraction · quantify · resolution · sensitivity · detection · accuracy · tolerance · uncertainty
femtometerslight-years
Units of astronomical distance
parsecs · astronomical units · megaparsecs · megameters · cosmic distances