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Picometre

Unit of length


Unit of length

FieldValue
namepicometre
image[[File:Atom.svg200px]]
imageclassskin-invert-image
captionA simplified representation of a helium atom, having an estimated (calculated) diameter of 62 picometres
symbolpm
standardSI
quantitylength
units1SI base units
inunits1
units2natural units
inunits2ℓP
-->   {{val1.8897e-2}} *a*0
units3imperial/US units
inunits31 pm

-- a0

The picometre (international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: pm) or picometer (American spelling) is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal to , or one trillionth () of a metre, which is the SI base unit of length.

The picometre is one thousand femtometres, one thousandth of a nanometre ( nm), one millionth of a micrometre (also known as a micron), one billionth of a millimetre, and one trillionth of a metre. The symbol μμ was once used for it. It is also one hundredth of an ångström, an internationally known (but non-SI) unit of length.

Use

The picometre's length is of an order so small that its application is almost entirely confined to particle physics, quantum physics, chemistry, and acoustics. Atoms are between 62 and 520 pm in diameter, and the typical length of a carbon–carbon single bond is 154 pm. Smaller units still may be used to describe smaller particles (some of which are the components of atoms themselves), such as hadrons and the upper limits of possible size for fermion point particles.

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) probe is planned for launch in 2034 to directly detect gravitational waves and will measure relative displacements with a resolution of 20 picometres over a distance of 2.5 gigametres, yielding a strain sensitivity of better than 1 part in 1020.

References

References

  1. "Atomic radius". WebElements: the periodic table on the web.
  2. (2006). "Dictionary of Distances". Elsevier.
  3. Rowlett, Russ. (2018). "How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement".
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This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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