Platelet
3 µm
Diameter
A tiny cell fragment that plugs cuts and starts blood clotting. About 3 µm across.
Published
How big is that?
3 µm is 39% of a red blood cell.
Platelet is the 2nd smallest of the 32 Tiny Worlds objects, and the 2nd smallest of the 172 objects across all five SizeItUp games.
Size comparison
To scale, smallest to largest: Platelet in orange beside the Tiny Worlds objects nearest in size, in teal.
| Object | Size | vs Platelet |
|---|---|---|
| E. coli bacteriumEscherichia coli, the rod-shaped bacterium in every gut and lab. | 2 µm long | 67% of the size |
| Platelet | 3 µm across | – |
| Cryptosporidium (Oocyst)The tough egg-like stage of a waterborne parasite, with four sporozoites inside. | 4.8 µm across | 1.6× bigger |
| Yeast cell (Baker's yeast)A single cell of the yeast that raises bread and brews beer. | 6 µm long | 2× bigger |
In other units
| Micrometres | 3 |
|---|---|
| Millimetres | 0.003 |
| Metres | 0.000003 |
How it's measured
Diameter. University of Alabama at Birmingham pathology.
Sources
- peir.path.uab.edu: UAB PEIR histology, chapter 7: platelets average 3μm in diameter.
- europepmc.org (supporting): Frontiers in Oncology 2022: 2 - 4 µm in diameter.
Checked against the source on .
Could you have guessed it by eye?
Platelet 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.