To help compare different orders of magnitude, the following lists describe various mass levels between 1067 kg 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 (see mass versus weight), especially if the objects are subject to the same gravitational field strength.

Thumb
An overview of ranges of mass

Units of mass

More information Submultiples, Multiples ...
SI multiples of gram (g)
Submultiples Multiples
Value SI symbol Name Value SI symbol Name
10−1 g dg decigram 101 g dag decagram
10−2 g cg centigram 102 g hg hectogram
10−3 g mg milligram 103 g kg kilogram
10−6 g μg microgram (mcg) 106 g Mg megagram (tonne)
10−9 g ng nanogram 109 g Gg gigagram
10−12 g pg picogram 1012 g Tg teragram
10−15 g fg femtogram 1015 g Pg petagram
10−18 g ag attogram 1018 g Eg exagram
10−21 g zg zeptogram 1021 g Zg zettagram
10−24 g yg yoctogram 1024 g Yg yottagram
10−27 g rg rontogram 1027 g Rg ronnagram
10−30 g qg quectogram 1030 g Qg quettagram
Common prefixes are in bold face.[1]
Close

The table at right is based on the kilogram (kg), the base unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI). The kilogram is the only standard unit to include an SI prefix (kilo-) as part of its name. The gram (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 (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, the pound, the carat, and the grain.

For subatomic particles, physicists use the mass equivalent to the energy represented by an electronvolt (eV). At the atomic level, chemists use the mass of one-twelfth of a carbon-12 atom (the dalton). Astronomers use the mass of the sun (M).

The least massive things: below 1024 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 3×10−27 eV/c2 = 10−62 kg.

More information Factor (kg), Value ...
Factor (kg) Value Item
1067 1.07×1067 kg Graviton, upper bound (6×1032 eV/c2)[2]
1040 4.2×1040 kg Mass equivalent of the energy of a photon at the peak of the spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation (0.235 meV/c2)[3]
1036 1.8×1036 kg 1 eV/c2, the mass equivalent of one electronvolt[4]
3.6×1036 kg Electron neutrino, upper limit on mass (2 eV/c2)[5]
1033
quectogram (qg)
1031 9.11×1031 kg Electron (511 keV/c2), the lightest elementary particle with a measured nonzero rest mass[6]
1030
rontogram (rg)
3.0–5.5×1030 kg Up quark (as a current quark) (1.7–3.1 MeV/c2)[7]
1028 1.9×1028 kg Muon (106 MeV/c2)[8]
1027
yoctogram (yg)
1.661×1027 kg Dalton (Da), a.k.a. unified atomic mass unit (u)
1.673×1027 kg Proton (938.3 MeV/c2)[9][10]
1.674×1027 kg Hydrogen atom, the lightest atom
1.675×1027 kg Neutron (939.6 MeV/c2)[11][12]
1026 1.2×1026 kg Lithium atom (6.941 Da)
3.0×1026 kg Water molecule (18.015 Da)
8.0×1026 kg Titanium atom (47.867 Da)
1025 1.1×1025 kg Copper atom (63.546 Da)
1.6×1025 kg Z boson (91.2 GeV/c2)[13]
2.2×1025 kg Higgs boson (125 GeV/c2)
3.1×1025 kg Top quark (173 GeV/c2),[14] the heaviest known elementary particle
3.2×1025 kg Caffeine molecule (194 Da)
3.5×1025 kg Lead-208 atom
4.9×1025 kg Oganesson-294 atom, the heaviest known nuclide
Close

10−24 to 10−18 kg

More information Factor (kg), Value ...
Factor (kg) Value Item
1024
zeptogram (zg)
1.2×1024 kg Buckyball molecule (720 Da)
1023 1.4×1023 kg Ubiquitin, a small protein (8.6 kDa)[15]
5.5×1023 kg A typical protein (median size of roughly 300 amino acids ≈ 33 kDa)[16]
1022 1.1×1022 kg Haemoglobin A molecule in blood (64.5 kDa)[17]
1021
attogram (ag)
1.65×1021 kg Double-stranded DNA molecule consisting of 1,578 base pairs (995 kDa)[18]
4.3×1021 kg Prokaryotic ribosome (2.6 MDa)[19]
7.1×1021 kg Eukaryotic ribosome (4.3 MDa)[19]
7.6×1021 kg Brome mosaic virus, a small virus (4.6 MDa)[20]
1020 3×1020 kg Synaptic vesicle in rats (16.1 ± 3.8 MDa)[21]
6.8×1020 kg Tobacco mosaic virus (41 MDa)[22]
1019 1.1×1019 kg Nuclear pore complex in yeast (66 MDa)[23]
2.5×1019 kg Human adenovirus (150 MDa)[24]
Close

10−18 to 10−12 kg

More information Factor (kg), Value ...
Factor (kg) Value Item
1018
femtogram (fg)
1×1018 kg HIV-1 virus[25][26]
4.7×1018 kg DNA sequence of length 4.6 Mbp, the weight of the E. coli genome[27]
1017 ~1×1017 kg Vaccinia virus, a large virus[28]
1.1×1017 kg Mass equivalent of 1 joule[29]
1016 3×1016 kg Prochlorococcus cyanobacteria, the smallest (and possibly most plentiful)[30] photosynthetic organism on Earth[31][32]
1015
picogram (pg)
1×1015 kg E. coli bacterium (wet weight)[33]
6×1015 kg DNA in a typical diploid human cell (approximate)
1014 2.2×1014 kg Human sperm cell[32][34]
6×1014 kg Yeast cell (quite variable)[35][36]
1013 1.5×1013 kg Dunaliella salina, a green alga (dry weight)[37]
Close

10−12 to 10−6 kg

Scanning electron micrograph showing grains of sand

More information Factor (kg), Value ...
Factor (kg) Value Item
1012
nanogram (ng)
1×1012 kg Average human cell (1 nanogram)[38]
2–3×1012 kg HeLa human cell[39][40][41]
8×1012 kg Grain of birch pollen[42]
1011    
1010 2.5×1010 kg Grain of maize pollen[43]
3.5×1010 kg Very fine grain of sand (0.063 mm diameter, 350 nanograms)
109
microgram (μg)
3.6×109 kg Human ovum[32][44]
2.4×109 kg US RDA for vitamin B12 for adults[45]
108 10−8 kg Speculated approximate lower limit of the mass of a primordial black hole
1.5×10−8 kg US RDA for vitamin D for adults[46]
~2×108 kg Uncertainty in the mass of the International Prototype of the Kilogram (IPK) (±~20 μg)[47]
2.2×108 kg Planck mass,[48] can be expressed as the mass of a 2 Planck Length radius black hole
~7×108 kg One eyelash hair (approximate)[49]
107 1.5×107 kg US RDA for iodine for adults[50]
2–3×107 kg Fruit fly (dry weight)[51][52]
Close

10−6 to 1 kg

More information Factor (kg), Value ...
Factor (kg) Value Item
106
milligram (mg)
2.5×106 kg Mosquitoes, common smaller species (about 2.5 milligrams),[53] grain of salt or sand,[54] medicines are typically expressed in milligrams[55]
105
centigram (cg)
1.1×105 kg Small granule of quartz (2 mm diameter, 11 milligrams)[56]
2×105 kg Adult housefly (Musca domestica, 21.4 milligrams)[57]
104
decigram (dg)
0.27–2.0×104 kg Range of amounts of caffeine in one cup of coffee (27–200 milligrams)[58]
1.5×104 kg A frame of 35mm motion picture film (157 milligrams)[59]
2×104 kg Metric carat (200 milligrams)[59]
103
gram (g)
1×103 kg One cubic centimeter of water (1 gram)[60]
1×103 kg US dollar bill (1 gram)[61]
~1×103 kg Two raisins (approximately 1 gram)[62]
~8×103 kg Coins of one euro (7.5 grams),[63] one U.S. dollar (8.1 grams)[64] and one Canadian loonie (7 grams [pre-2012], 6.27 grams [2012-])[65]
102
decagram (dag)
1.2×102 kg Mass of one mole (6.02214×1023 atoms) of carbon-12 (12 grams)
1.37×102 kg Amount of ethanol defined as one standard drink in the U.S. (13.7 grams)[66]
2–4×102 kg Adult mouse (Mus musculus, 20–40 grams)[67]
2.8×102 kg Ounce (avoirdupois) (28.3495 grams)[59]
4.7×102 kg Mass equivalent of the energy that is 1 megaton of TNT equivalent[59][68]
10−1
hectogram   (hg)
0.1-0.2 kg An orange (100–200 grams)[69]
0.142-0.149 kg A baseball used in the major league.[70]
0.454 kg Pound (avoirdupois) (453.6 grams)[59]
Close

1 kg to 105 kg

Iron weights up to 50 kilograms depicted in Dictionnaire encyclopédique de l'épicerie et des industries annexes.
More information Factor (kg), Value ...
Factor (kg) Value Item
1 kg
kilogram (kg)
1 kg One litre (0.001 m3) of water[71]
1–3 kg Smallest breed of dog (Chihuahua)[72]
1–3 kg Typical laptop computer, 2010[73]
1–3 kg Adult domestic tortoise
2.5–4 kg Newborn human baby[74]
4.0 kg Women's shot[75]
4–5 kg Housecat[76]
7.26 kg Men's shot[75]
101 9–27 kg Medium-sized dog[77]
10–30 kg A CRT computer monitor or television set[citation needed]
50 kg Large dog breed (Great Dane)
70 kg Adult human[78]
102 130–180 kg Mature lion, female (130 kg) and male (180 kg)[79]
200–250 kg Giant tortoise
240–450 kg Grand piano[80][81]
400–900 kg Dairy cow[82]
500–500,000 kg A teaspoon (5 ml) of white dwarf material (0.5–500 tonnes)[83][84]
635 kg Heaviest human in recorded history (Jon Brower Minnoch)
907.2 kg 1 short ton (2000 pounds - U.S.)[59]
103
megagram (Mg)
1000 kg 1 tonne (U.S. spelling: metric ton)[59]
1000 kg 1 cubic metre of water[71]
1016.05 kg Ton (British) / 1 long ton (2240 pounds - U.S.)[59]
1300–1600 kg Typical passenger cars[85]
2700–6000 kg Adult elephant[86]
104 1.1×104 kg Hubble Space Telescope (11 tonnes)[87]
1.2×104 kg Largest elephant on record (12 tonnes)[88]
1.4×104 kg Big Ben (bell) (14 tonnes)[89]
2.7×104 kg ENIAC computer, 1946 (30 tonnes)[90]
4×104 kg Maximum gross mass (truck + load combined) of a semi-trailer truck in the EU (40–44 tonnes)[91]
5×104–6×104 kg Tank; Bulldozer (50–60 tonnes)
6.0×104 kg Largest single-piece meteorite, Hoba West Meteorite (60 tonnes)[92]
7.3×104 kg Largest dinosaur, Argentinosaurus (73 tonnes)[93]
105 1.74-1.83×105 kg Operational empty weight of a Boeing 747-300
1.8×105 kg Largest animal ever, a blue whale (180 tonnes)[94]
4.2×105 kg International Space Station (417 tonnes)[95]
6×105 kg World's heaviest aircraft: Antonov An-225 (maximum take-off mass: 600 tonnes, payload: 250 tonnes)[96]
Close

106 to 1011 kg

More information Factor (kg), Value ...
Factor (kg) Value Item
106
gigagram (Gg)
1×106 kg Trunk of the giant sequoia tree named General Sherman, largest living tree by trunk volume (1121 tonnes)[97]
2.0×106 kg Launch mass of the Space Shuttle (2041 tonnes)[98]
6×106 kg Largest clonal colony, the quaking aspen named Pando (largest living organism) (6000 tonnes)[99]
7.8×106 kg Virginia-class nuclear submarine (submerged weight)[100]
107 1×107 kg Annual production of Darjeeling tea[101]
5.2×107 kg RMS Titanic when fully loaded (52,000 tonnes)[102]
9.97×107 kg Heaviest train ever: Australia's BHP Iron Ore, 2001 record (99,700 tonnes)[103]
108 6.6×108 kg Largest ship and largest mobile man-made object, Seawise Giant, when fully loaded (660,000 tonnes)[104]
7×108 kg Heaviest (non-pyramid) building, Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, Romania[105]
109
teragram (Tg)
4.3×109 kg Amount of matter converted into energy by the Sun each second[106]
6×109 kg Great Pyramid of Giza[107]
1010
6×1010 kg Amount of concrete in the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest concrete structure[108][109]
1011 ~1×1011 kg The mass of a primordial black hole with an evaporation time equal to the age of the universe[110]
2×1011 kg Amount of water stored in London storage reservoirs (0.2 km3)[111]
6×1011 kg Total mass of the world's human population[112]
5×1011 kg Total biomass of Antarctic krill, one of the most plentiful animal species on the planet in terms of biomass[113]
Close

1012 to 1017 kg

More information Factor (kg), Value ...
Factor (kg) Value Item
1012
petagram (Pg)
0.8–2.1×1012 kg Global biomass of fish[114]
4×1012 kg Global annual human food production[115]
4×1012 kg World crude oil production in 2009 (3,843 Mt)[116]
5.5×1012 kg A teaspoon (5 ml) of neutron star material (5000 million tonnes)[117]
1013 1×1013 kg Mass of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko[118]
4×1013 kg Global annual human carbon dioxide emission[119][120]
1014 1.05×1014 kg Global net primary production – the total mass of carbon fixed in organic compounds by photosynthesis each year on Earth[121]
7.2×1014 kg Total carbon stored in Earth's atmosphere[122]
1015
exagram (Eg)
2.0×1015 kg Total carbon stored in the terrestrial biosphere[123]
3.5×1015 kg Total carbon stored in coal deposits worldwide[124]
1016 1×1016 kg 951 Gaspra, the first asteroid ever to be closely approached by a spacecraft (rough estimate)[125]
1×1016 kg Rough estimate of the total carbon content of all organisms on Earth.[126]
3×1016 kg Rough estimate of everything produced by the human species.[127]
3.8×1016 kg Total carbon stored in the oceans.[128]
1017 1.6×1017 kg Prometheus, a shepherd satellite for the inner edge of Saturn's F Ring[129]
Close

1018 to 1023 kg

More information Factor (kg), Value ...
Factor (kg) Value Item
1018
zettagram (Zg)
5.1×1018 kg Earth's atmosphere[130]
5.6×1018 kg Hyperion, a moon of Saturn[129]
1019 3×1019 kg 3 Juno, one of the larger asteroids in the asteroid belt[131]
3×1019 kg The rings of Saturn[132]
1020 9.4×1020 kg Ceres, dwarf planet within the asteroid belt[133]
1021
yottagram (Yg)
1.4×1021 kg Earth's oceans[134]
1.5×1021 kg Charon, the largest moon of Pluto[135]
2.9–3.7×1021 kg The asteroid belt[136]
1022 1.3×1022 kg Pluto[135]
2.1×1022 kg Triton, largest moon of Neptune[137]
7.3×1022 kg Earth's Moon[138]
1023 1.3×1023 kg Titan, largest moon of Saturn[139]
1.5×1023 kg Ganymede, largest moon of Jupiter[140]
3.3×1023 kg Mercury[141]
6.4×1023 kg Mars[142]
Close

1024 to 1029 kg

Jupiter is the most massive planet in the Solar System.
More information Factor (kg), Value ...
Factor (kg) Value Item
1024
ronnagram (Rg)
4.9×1024 kg Venus[143]
6.0×1024 kg Earth[144]
1025 3×1025 kg Oort cloud[145]
8.7×1025 kg Uranus[146]
1026 1.0×1026 kg Neptune[147]
5.7×1026 kg Saturn[148]
1027
quettagram (Qg)
1.9×1027 kg Jupiter[149]
1028 2–14×1028 kg Brown dwarfs (approximate)[150]
1029 3×1029 kg Barnard's Star, a nearby red dwarf[151]
Close

1030 to 1035 kg

More information Factor (kg), Value ...
Factor (kg) Value Item
1030 2×1030 kg The Sun[152] (one solar mass or M = 1.989×1030 kg)
2.8×1030 kg Chandrasekhar limit (1.4 M)[153][154]
1031 4×1031 kg Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star (20 M)[155]
1032 4–7×1032 kg R136a1, the most massive of known stars (230 to 345 M)[156]
6–8×1032 kg Hyades star cluster (300 to 400 M)[157]
1033 1.6×1033 kg Pleiades star cluster (800 M)[158]
1034
1035 ~1035 kg Typical globular cluster in the Milky Way (overall range: 3×103 to 4×106 M)[159]
2×1035 kg Low end of mass range for giant molecular clouds (1×105 to 1×107 M)[160][161]
7.3×1035 kg Jeans mass of a giant molecular cloud at 100 K and density 30 atoms per cubic centimeter;[162]
possible example: Orion molecular cloud complex
Close

1036 to 1041 kg

More information Factor (kg), Value ...
Factor (kg) Value Item
1036 1.79×1036 kg The entire Carina complex.
2.4×1036 kg The Gould Belt of stars, including the Sun (1.2×106 M)[163]
7–8×1036 kg The supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, associated with the radio source Sagittarius A* (3.7±0.2×106 M)[164]
8×1036 kg Omega centauri, the largest globular cluster in the Milky Way, containing approximately 10 million stars.
1037    
1038    
1039    
1040    
1041 1.98×1041 kg Phoenix A, the largest supermassive black hole, weighing 100 billion solar masses (1×1011 M)
4×1041 kg Visible mass of the Milky Way galaxy[165]
Close

The most massive things: 1042 kg and greater

More information Factor (kg), Value ...
Factor (kg) Value Item
1042 1.2×1042 kg Milky Way galaxy (5.8×1011 M)[166]
2–3×1042 kg Local Group of galaxies, including the Milky Way (1.29±0.14×1012 M)[166]
1043 5.37×1043 kg ESO 146-5, the heaviest known galaxy in the universe[167]
1044    
1045 1–2×1045 kg Local or Virgo Supercluster of galaxies, including the Local Group (1×1015 M)[168]
1046    
1047 2×1047 kg Laniakea Supercluster of galaxies, which encompasses the Virgo supercluster
1048 2×1048 kg Pisces–Cetus Supercluster Complex, a galaxy filament that includes the Laniakea Supercluster.
1049 4×1049 kg Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall, the largest structure in the known universe
1050    
1051    
1052 4.4506×1052 kg Mass of the observable universe as estimated by NASA
1.4×1053 kg Mass of the observable universe as estimated by the U.S. National Solar Observatory[169]
Close

See also

Notes

Wikiwand in your browser!

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.

Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.