Orders of magnitude (mass)
To help compare different orders of magnitude, the following lists describe various mass levels between 10−67 kilograms and 1052 kg. The least massive thing listed here is a graviton, and the most massive thing is the observable universe. Typically, an object having greater mass will also have greater weight, especially if the objects are subject to the same gravitational field strength.
Units of mass
The table above is based on the kilogram, the base unit of mass in the International System of Units. The kilogram is the only standard unit to include an SI prefix as part of its name. The gram 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, not a *kilokilogram.The tonne is an SI-compatible unit of mass equal to a megagram, 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 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, the pound, the carat, and the grain.For subatomic particles, physicists use the mass-equivalent of an electronvolt. At the atomic level, chemists use the mass of one-twelfth of a carbon-12 atom. Astronomers use the mass of the sun.
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. Planck's law allows for the existence of photons 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 =.| Factor | Value | Item |
| 10−67 | 1.07 kg | Graviton, upper bound |
| 10−40 | 4.2 kg | Mass equivalent of the energy of a photon at the peak of the spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation |
| 10−36 | 1.8 kg | 1 eV/c2, the mass equivalent of one electronvolt |
| 10−36 | 3.6 kg | Electron neutrino, upper limit on mass |
| 10−33 quectogram | ||
| 10−31 | 9.11 kg | Electron, the lightest elementary particle with a measured nonzero rest mass |
| 10−30 rontogram | 3.0–5.5 kg | Up quark |
| 10−28 | 1.9 kg | Muon |
| 10−27 yoctogram | 1.661 kg | Dalton, a.k.a. unified atomic mass unit |
| 10−27 yoctogram | 1.673 kg | Proton |
| 10−27 yoctogram | 1.674 kg | Hydrogen atom, the lightest atom |
| 10−27 yoctogram | 1.675 kg | Neutron |
| 10−26 | 1.2 kg | Lithium atom |
| 10−26 | 3.0 kg | Water molecule |
| 10−26 | 8.0 kg | Titanium atom |
| 10−25 | 1.1 kg | Copper atom |
| 10−25 | 1.6 kg | Z boson |
| 10−25 | 2.2 kg | Higgs boson |
| 10−25 | 3.1 kg | Top quark, the heaviest known elementary particle |
| 10−25 | 3.2 kg | Caffeine molecule |
| 10−25 | 3.5 kg | Lead-208 atom |
| 10−25 | 4.9 kg | Oganesson-294 atom, the heaviest known nuclide |
10−24 to 10−18 kg
| Factor | Value | Item |
| 10−24 zeptogram | 1.2 kg | Buckyball molecule |
| 10−23 | 1.4 kg | Ubiquitin, a small ubiquitous protein |
| 10−23 | 5.5 kg | A typical protein |
| 10−22 | 1.1 kg | Haemoglobin A molecule in blood |
| 10−21 attogram | 1.65 kg | Double-stranded DNA molecule consisting of 1,578 base pairs |
| 10−21 attogram | 4.3 kg | Prokaryotic ribosome |
| 10−21 attogram | 7.1 kg | Eukaryotic ribosome |
| 10−21 attogram | 7.6 kg | Brome mosaic virus, a small virus |
| 10−20 | 3 kg | Synaptic vesicle in rats |
| 10−20 | 6.8 kg | Tobacco mosaic virus |
| 10−19 | 1.1 kg | Nuclear pore complex in yeast |
| 10−19 | 2.5 kg | Human adenovirus |
10−18 to 10−12 kg
| Factor | Value | Item |
| 10−18 femtogram | 1 kg | HIV-1 virus |
| 10−18 femtogram | 4.7 kg | DNA sequence of length 4.6 Mbp, the weight of the E. coli genome |
| 10−17 | ~1 kg | Vaccinia virus, a large virus |
| 10−17 | 1.1 kg | Mass equivalent of 1 joule |
| 10−16 | 3 kg | Prochlorococcus cyanobacteria, the smallest photosynthetic organism on Earth |
| 10−15 picogram | 1 kg | E. coli bacterium |
| 10−15 picogram | 6 kg | DNA in a typical diploid human cell |
| 10−14 | 2.2 kg | Human sperm cell |
| 10−14 | 6 kg | Yeast cell |
| 10−13 | 1.5 kg | Dunaliella salina, a green alga |
10−12 to 10−6 kg
| Factor | Value | Item |
| 10−12 nanogram | 1 kg | Average human cell |
| 10−12 nanogram | 2–3 kg | HeLa human cell |
| 10−12 nanogram | 8 kg | Grain of birch pollen |
| 10−11 | ||
| 10−10 | 2.5 kg | Grain of maize pollen |
| 10−10 | 3.5 kg | Very fine grain of sand |
| 10−9 microgram | 3.6 kg | Human ovum |
| 10−9 microgram | 2.4 kg | US RDA for vitamin B12 for adults |
| 10−8 | Speculated approximate lower limit of the mass of a primordial black hole | |
| 10−8 | US RDA for vitamin D for adults | |
| 10−8 | ~2 kg | Uncertainty in the mass of the International Prototype of the Kilogram |
| 10−8 | 2.2 kg | Planck mass, can be expressed as the mass of a 2 Planck Length radius black hole |
| 10−8 | ~7 kg | One eyelash hair |
| 10−7 | 1.5 kg | US RDA for iodine for adults |
| 10−7 | 2–3 kg | Fruit fly |
10−6 to 1 kg
| Factor | Value | Item |
| 10−6 milligram | 2.5 kg | Mosquitoes, common smaller species, grain of salt or sand, medicines are typically expressed in milligrams |
| 10−5 centigram | 1.1 kg | Small granule of quartz |
| 10−5 centigram | 2 kg | Adult housefly |
| 10−4 decigram | 0.27–2.0 kg | Range of amounts of caffeine in one cup of coffee |
| 10−4 decigram | 1.5 kg | A frame of 35mm motion picture film |
| 10−4 decigram | 2 kg | Metric carat |
| 10−3 gram | 1 kg | One cubic centimeter of water |
| 10−3 gram | 1 kg | US dollar bill |
| 10−3 gram | ~1 kg | Two raisins |
| 10−3 gram | ~8 kg | Coins of one euro, one U.S. dollar and one Canadian loonie |
| 10−2 decagram | 1.2 kg | Mass of one mole of carbon-12 |
| 10−2 decagram | 1.37 kg | Amount of ethanol defined as one standard drink in the U.S. |
| 10−2 decagram | 2–4 kg | Adult mouse |
| 10−2 decagram | 2.8 kg | Ounce |
| 10−2 decagram | 4.7 kg | Mass equivalent of the energy that is 1 megaton of TNT equivalent |
| 10−1 hectogram | 0.1-0.2 kg | An orange |
| 10−1 hectogram | 0.142-0.149 kg | A baseball used in the major league. |
| 10−1 hectogram | 0.454 kg | Pound |