Orders of magnitude (mass)
To help compare different orders of magnitude, the following lists describe various mass levels between 10−59 kg and 1052 kg.
Units of mass
The table below 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 a 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 tonne, 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 to the energy represented by 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.
Below 10−24 kg
Unlike other physical quantities, mass-energy does not have an a priori expected minimal quantity, as is the case with time or length, 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 lower bound on the mass of a supposedly massless particle; in the case of the photon, this confirmed lower bound is of the order of 3×10−27 eV = 10−62 kg.| Factor | Value | Item |
| 10−59 | 8.9 kg | Graviton |
| 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 | One eV/c2, the mass equivalent of one electronvolt |
| 10−36 | 3.6 kg | Electron neutrino, upper limit on mass |
| 10−31 | 9.11 kg | Electron, the lightest elementary particle with a measured nonzero rest mass |
| 10−30 | 3.0–5.5 kg | Up quark |
| 10−28 | 1.9 kg | Muon |
| 10−27 yoctogram | 1.661 kg | Atomic mass unit or dalton |
| 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 10−19 kg
| Factor | Value | Item |
| 10−24 zeptogram | 1.2 kg | Buckyball molecule |
| 10−23 | 1.4 kg | Ubiquitin, a small 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 10−13 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 algae |
10−12 to 10−7 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 | 1.5 kg | 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 |
| 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 to 1 kg
| Factor | Value | Item |
| 10−6 milligram | 2.5 kg | Mosquitoes, common smaller species, grain of salt or sand, medicine |
| 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 | 2–4 kg | Adult mouse |
| 10−2 decagram | 1.37 kg | Amount of ethanol defined as one standard drink in the U.S. |
| 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 |
1 kg to 105 kg
| Factor | Value | Item |
| 1 kg kilogram | 1 kg | One litre of water |
| 1 kg kilogram | 1–3 kg | Smallest breed of dog |
| 1 kg kilogram | 1–3 kg | Typical laptop computer, 2010 |
| 1 kg kilogram | 1–3 kg | Adult domestic tortoise |
| 1 kg kilogram | 2.5–4 kg | Newborn human baby |
| 1 kg kilogram | 4.0 kg | Women's shot |
| 1 kg kilogram | 4–5 kg | Housecat |
| 1 kg kilogram | 7.26 kg | Men's shot |
| 101 | 9–27 kg | Medium-sized dog |
| 101 | 10–30 kg | A CRT computer monitor or television set |
| 101 | 50 kg | Large dog breed |
| 101 | 70 kg | Adult human |
| 102 | 130–180 kg | Mature lion, female and male |
| 102 | 200–250 kg | Giant tortoise |
| 102 | 240–450 kg | Grand piano |
| 102 | 400–900 kg | Dairy cow |
| 102 | 500–500,000 kg | A teaspoon of white dwarf material |
| 102 | 635 kg | Heaviest human in history |
| 102 | 907.2 kg | 1 short ton |
| 103 megagram | 1000 kg | Metric ton/tonne |
| 103 megagram | 1000 kg | 1 cubic metre of water |
| 103 megagram | 1016.05 kg | Ton / 1 long ton |
| 103 megagram | 1300–1600 kg | Typical passenger cars |
| 103 megagram | 2700–6000 kg | Adult elephant |
| 104 | 1.1 kg | Hubble Space Telescope |
| 104 | 1.2 kg | Largest elephant on record |
| 104 | 1.4 kg | Big Ben |
| 104 | 2.7 kg | ENIAC computer, 1946 |
| 104 | 4 kg | Maximum gross mass of a semi-trailer truck in the EU |
| 104 | 5–6 kg | Tank; Bulldozer |
| 104 | 6.0 kg | Largest single-piece meteorite, Hoba West Meteorite |
| 104 | 7.3 kg | Largest dinosaur, Argentinosaurus |
| 105 | 1.8 kg | Largest animal ever, a blue whale |
| 105 | 4.2 kg | International Space Station |
| 105 | 6 kg | World's heaviest aircraft: Antonov An-225 |
106 to 1011 kg
| Factor | Value | Item |
| 106 gigagram | 1 kg | Trunk of the giant sequoia tree named General Sherman, largest living tree by trunk volume |
| 106 gigagram | 2.0 kg | Launch mass of the Space Shuttle |
| 106 gigagram | 6 kg | Largest clonal colony, the quaking aspen named Pando |
| 106 gigagram | 7.8 kg | Virginia-class nuclear submarine |
| 107 | 1 kg | Annual production of Darjeeling tea |
| 107 | 5.2 kg | RMS Titanic when fully loaded |
| 107 | 9.97 kg | Heaviest train ever: Australia's BHP Iron Ore, 2001 record |
| 108 | 6.6 kg | Largest ship and largest mobile man-made object, Seawise Giant, when fully loaded |
| 108 | 7 kg | Heaviest building, Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, Romania |
| 109 teragram | 4.3 kg | Amount of matter converted into energy by the Sun each second |
| 109 teragram | 6 kg | Great Pyramid of Giza |
1010 | 6 kg | Amount of concrete in the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest concrete structure |
| 1011 | ~1 kg | The mass of a primordial black hole with an evaporation time equal to the age of the universe |
| 1011 | 2 kg | Amount of water stored in London storage reservoirs |
| 1011 | 4 kg | Total mass of the world's human population |
| 1011 | 5 kg | Total biomass of Antarctic krill, probably the most plentiful animal species on the planet |
1012 to 1017 kg
1018 to 1023 kg
| Factor | Value | Item |
| 1018 zettagram | 5.1 kg | Earth's atmosphere |
| 1018 zettagram | 5.6 kg | Hyperion, a moon of Saturn |
| 1019 | 3 kg | 3 Juno, one of the larger asteroids in the asteroid belt |
| 1019 | 3 kg | The rings of Saturn |
| 1020 | 9.4 kg | Ceres, dwarf planet within the asteroid belt |
| 1021 yottagram | 1.4 kg | Earth's oceans |
| 1021 yottagram | 1.5 kg | Charon, the largest moon of Pluto |
| 1021 yottagram | 2.9–3.7 kg | The asteroid belt |
| 1022 | 1.3 kg | Pluto |
| 1022 | 2.1 kg | Triton, largest moon of Neptune |
| 1022 | 7.3 kg | Earth's Moon |
| 1023 | 1.3 kg | Titan, largest moon of Saturn |
| 1023 | 1.5 kg | Ganymede, largest moon of Jupiter |
| 1023 | 3.3 kg | Mercury |
| 1023 | 6.4 kg | Mars |
1024 to 1029 kg
| Factor | Value | Item |
| 1024 | 4.9 kg | Venus |
| 1024 | 6.0 kg | Earth |
| 1025 | 3 kg | Oort cloud |
| 1025 | 8.7 kg | Uranus |
| 1026 | 1.0 kg | Neptune |
| 1026 | 5.7 kg | Saturn |
| 1027 | 1.9 kg | Jupiter |
| 1028 | 2–14 kg | Brown dwarfs |
| 1029 | 3 kg | Barnard's Star, a nearby red dwarf |
1030 to 1035 kg
| Factor | Value | Item |
| 1030 | 2 kg | The Sun |
| 1030 | 2.8 kg | Chandrasekhar limit |
| 1031 | 4 kg | Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star |
| 1032 | 4–7 kg | R136a1, the most massive of known stars |
| 1032 | 6–8 kg | Hyades star cluster |
| 1033 | 1.6 kg | Pleiades star cluster |
| 1034 | ||
| 1035 | ~1035 kg | Typical globular cluster in the Milky Way |
| 1035 | 2 kg | Low end of mass range for giant molecular clouds |
| 1035 | 7.3 kg | Jeans mass of a giant molecular cloud at 100K and density 30 atoms per cc; possible example: Orion Molecular Cloud Complex |
1036 to 1041 kg
| Factor | Value | Item |
| 1036 | 1.79 kg | The entire Carina complex. |
| 1036 | 2.4 kg | The Gould Belt of stars, including the Sun |
| 1036 | 7–8 kg | The supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, associated with the radio source Sagittarius A* |
| 1036 | 8 kg | Omega centauri, the largest globular cluster in the milky way, containing approximately 10 million stars. |
| 1037 | ||
| 1038 | ||
| 1039 | ||
| 1040 | 4.17 kg | NGC 4889, the largest measured supermassive black hole, weighing 21 billion solar masses |
| 1041 | 4 kg | Visible mass of the Milky Way galaxy |
1042 kg and greater
| Factor | Value | Item |
| 1042 | 1.2 kg | Milky Way galaxy |
| 1042 | 2–3 kg | Local Group of galaxies, including the Milky Way |
| 1043 | ||
| 1044 | ||
| 1045 | 1–2 kg | Local or Virgo Supercluster of galaxies, including the Local Group |
| 1046 | ||
| 1047 | 2 kg | Laniakea supercluster of galaxies, which encompasses the Virgo supercluster |
| 1048 | 2 kg | Pisces–Cetus Supercluster Complex, a galaxy filament that includes the Laniakea Supercluster. |
| 1049 | 4 kg | Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall, the largest structure in the known universe |
| 1050 | ||
| 1051 | ||
| 1052 | 4.4506 kg | Mass of the observable universe as estimated by NASA |
| 1052 | 6 kg | Mass of the observable universe as estimated by the National Solar Observatory |