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Microscopic Size Comparison

A human hair is about 70 µm thick, 9.3 times wider than a red blood cell (7.5 µm). A typical virus is about 100 nm across, and a hydrogen atom is about 943 times smaller than that.

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How big is each thing?

This microscopic size comparison chart lists 11 entries from the largest to the smallest:

Thing	Size	vs 5 ft 7 in man
Ant	0.16 in (4 mm) long	0.0023×
Flea	0.098 in (2.5 mm) long	0.0015×
Mustard seed	0.059 in (1.5 mm) across	0.00088×
Grain of sand	0.02 in (500 µm) long	0.00029×
Dust mite	0.012 in (300 µm) long	0.00018×
Human hair (width)	70 µm across	0.000041×
Red blood cell	7.5 µm across	0.0000044×
E. coli bacterium	2 µm long	0.0000012×
Virus	100 nm across	0.000000058×
DNA double helix (width)	2 nm wide	0.0000000012×
Hydrogen atom	106 pm across	0.0000000001×

How small is a virus compared to a bacterium?

A typical virus (100 nm) is about 20 times smaller than an E. coli bacterium (2 µm).

Can you see a dust mite?

Barely, if at all: dust mites are about 0.012 in (300 µm) long, close to the smallest thing the human eye can see (about 0.1 mm).

Microscopic Size Comparison chart

Free to use with a link back to Height.compare.

Where do these numbers come from?

Sizes are typical adult or reported values, rounded for readability. Read how we measure and compare sizes.

Silhouettes from PhyloPic: Ant by Amy Beauvois; Flea by T. Michael Keesey; Dust mite by Birgit Lang. See credits.