To help compare different

orders of magnitude An order of magnitude is an approximation of the logarithm of a value relative to some contextually understood reference value, usually 10, interpreted as the base of the logarithm and the representative of values of magnitude one. Logarithmic dis ...

, the following lists describe various

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

levels between 10⁻⁵⁹ kg and 10⁵² kg. The least massive thing listed here is a

graviton In theories of quantum gravity, the graviton is the hypothetical quantum of gravity, an elementary particle that mediates the force of gravitational interaction. There is no complete quantum field theory of gravitons due to an outstanding mathem ...

, and the most massive thing is the

observable universe The observable universe is a ball-shaped region of the universe comprising all matter that can be observed from Earth or its space-based telescopes and exploratory probes at the present time, because the electromagnetic radiation from these obj ...

. Typically, an object having greater mass will also have greater weight (see

mass versus weight In common usage, the mass of an object is often referred to as its weight, though these are in fact different concepts and quantities. Nevertheless, one object will always weigh more than a second object, if the first object has greater mass, and t ...

), especially if the objects are subject to the same

gravitational field strength The gravitational constant (also known as the universal gravitational constant, the Newtonian constant of gravitation, or the Cavendish gravitational constant), denoted by the capital letter , is an empirical physical constant involved in th ...

Units of mass

The table at right is based on the

kilogram The kilogram (also kilogramme) is the unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), having the unit symbol kg. It is a widely used measure in science, engineering and commerce worldwide, and is often simply called a kilo colloquially ...

(kg), the base unit of mass in the

International System of Units The International System of Units, known by the international abbreviation SI in all languages and sometimes pleonastically as the SI system, is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement. E ...

( SI). The kilogram is the only standard unit to include an

SI prefix The International System of Units, known by the international abbreviation SI in all languages and sometimes pleonastically as the SI system, is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement. E ...

(''kilo-'') as part of its name. The ''

gram The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a Physical unit, unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure wate ...

'' (10⁻³ kg) is an SI derived unit of mass. However, the ''names'' of all SI mass units are based on ''gram'', rather than on ''kilogram''; thus 10³ kg is a ''megagram'' (10⁶ g), not a *''kilokilogram''. The ''

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

'' (t) is an SI-compatible unit of mass equal to a megagram (''Mg''), or 10³ kg. The unit is in common use for masses above about 10³ kg and is often used with SI prefixes. For example, a gigagram (''Gg'') or 10⁹ g is 10³ tonnes, commonly called a ''kilotonne''.

Other units

Other units of mass are also in use. Historical units include the

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

, the

pound Pound or Pounds may refer to: Units * Pound (currency), a unit of currency * Pound sterling, the official currency of the United Kingdom * Pound (mass), a unit of mass * Pound (force), a unit of force * Rail pound, in rail profile Symbols * Po ...

, the carat, and the

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

. For subatomic particles, physicists use the mass equivalent to the energy represented by an

electronvolt In physics, an electronvolt (symbol eV, also written electron-volt and electron volt) is the measure of an amount of kinetic energy In physics, the kinetic energy of an object is the energy that it possesses due to its motion. It is defi ...

(eV). At the atomic level, chemists use the mass of one-twelfth of a carbon-12 atom (the

dalton Dalton may refer to: Science * Dalton (crater), a lunar crater * Dalton (program), chemistry software * Dalton (unit) (Da), the atomic mass unit * John Dalton, chemist, physicist and meteorologist Entertainment * Dalton (Buffyverse), minor cha ...

). Astronomers use the

mass of the sun The solar mass () is a standard unit of mass in astronomy, equal to approximately . It is often used to indicate the masses of other stars, as well as stellar clusters, nebulae, galaxies and black holes. It is approximately equal to the mass ...

().

The least massive things: below 10⁻²⁴ kg

Unlike other physical quantities, mass–energy does not have an ''a priori'' expected minimal quantity, or an observed basic quantum as in the case of

electric charge Electric charge is the physical property of matter that causes charged matter to experience a force when placed in an electromagnetic field. Electric charge can be ''positive'' or ''negative'' (commonly carried by protons and electrons respe ...

Planck's law In physics, Planck's law describes the spectral density of electromagnetic radiation emitted by a black body in thermal equilibrium at a given temperature , when there is no net flow of matter or energy between the body and its environment. At ...

allows for the existence of

photons A photon () is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Photons are massless, so they alway ...

with arbitrarily low energies. Consequently, there can only ever be an experimental upper bound on the mass of a supposedly massless particle; in the case of the photon, this confirmed upper bound is of the order of = .

10⁻²⁴ to 10⁻¹⁸ kg

10⁻¹⁸ to 10⁻¹² kg

10⁻¹² to 10⁻⁶ kg

10⁻⁶ to 1 kg

1 kg to 10⁵ kg

10⁶ to 10¹¹ kg

10¹² to 10¹⁷ kg

10¹⁸ to 10²³ kg

10²⁴ to 10²⁹ kg

10³⁰ to 10³⁵ kg

10³⁶ to 10⁴¹ kg

The most massive things: 10⁴² kg and greater

Notes

External links

Mass units conversion calculator

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orders Of Magnitude (Mass)

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

Mass

Units of mass

Other units

The least massive things: below 10−24 kg

10−24 to 10−18 kg

10−18 to 10−12 kg

10−12 to 10−6 kg

10−6 to 1 kg

1 kg to 105 kg

106 to 1011 kg

1012 to 1017 kg

1018 to 1023 kg

1024 to 1029 kg

1030 to 1035 kg

1036 to 1041 kg

The most massive things: 1042 kg and greater

See also