Small Number - Tiny Numbers in Science

Tiny Numbers in Science

Even smaller numbers are often found in science, which are so small that they are not easily dealt with using fractions. Scientific notation was created to handle very small and very large numbers.

Examples of small numbers describing everyday real-world objects are:

• size of a bit on a computer hard disk
• feature size of a structure on a microprocessor chip
• wavelength of green light: 5.5 × 10-7 m
• period of a 100 MHz FM radio wave: 1 × 10-8 s
• time taken by light to travel one meter: roughly 3 × 10-9 s
• radius of a hydrogen atom: 2.5 × 10-11 m
• the charge on an electron: roughly 1.6 × 10-19 C (negative)

Other small numbers are found in particle physics and quantum physics:

• size of the atomic nucleus of a lead atom: 7.1 × 10-15 m
• the Planck length: 1.6 × 10-35 m