Nematode worm (C. elegans)
1 mm (0.03937 in)
Adult body length
Caenorhabditis elegans, the tiny worm behind several Nobel prizes. About 1 mm long.
Published
How big is that?
1 mm is 14 times the width of a human hair and 14% of a grain of rice.
Nematode worm is the 16th smallest of the 32 Tiny Worlds objects, and the 16th smallest of the 172 objects across all five SizeItUp games.
Closest in size from the other games: Black peppercorn (Kitchen Table), 4.865 mm across.
Size comparison
To scale, smallest to largest: Nematode worm in orange beside the Tiny Worlds objects nearest in size, in teal.
| Object | Size | vs Nematode worm |
|---|---|---|
| Spider mite (Two-spotted, female)A sap-sucking mite that spins fine webs on houseplants, seen from above. | 0.4 mm long | 40% of the size |
| Amoeba (Amoeba proteus)A single cell that moves by pushing out pseudopods; big enough to see by eye. | 0.5 mm long | 50% of the size |
| Nematode worm (C. elegans) | 1 mm long | – |
| Poppy seedA kidney-shaped seed from the opium poppy, the kind on bagels. | 1.01 mm long | about the same |
| Deer tick (Nymph)A young blacklegged tick, the stage most likely to pass on Lyme disease. | 1.5 mm long | 1.5× bigger |
In other units
| Millimetres | 1 |
|---|---|
| Centimetres | 0.1 |
| Metres | 0.001 |
| Inches | 0.03937 |
How it's measured
Adult body length. Blaxter 2011, PLoS Biology.
Sources
- doi.org: PLoS Biology 9:e1001050: adults are about 1 mm in length.
Checked against the source on .
Could you have guessed it by eye?
Nematode worm is one of the objects in Tiny Worlds, a daily size comparison game: you stretch a shape to the size you think is right beside one you know.