One nanometer is a billionth of a meter
1 nm = 10−9 m = 0.001 µm = 10 Å
The nanometer sits between the micrometer (a thousand times bigger) and the angstrom (ten times smaller). Every conversion is just moving a decimal point by powers of ten, because these are all SI-scale steps.
Nanometer conversions
| To this unit | Multiply nm by | 1 nm equals |
|---|---|---|
| Angstrom (Å) | 10 | 10 Å |
| Picometer (pm) | 1,000 | 1,000 pm |
| Micrometer (µm) | 0.001 | 0.001 µm |
| Millimeter (mm) | 0.000001 | 10−6 mm |
| Meter (m) | 0.000000001 | 10−9 m |
To convert into nanometers, divide by the same factor: 2.5 µm ÷ 0.001 = 2,500 nm.
What a nanometer looks like
- Atoms. A single atom spans roughly 0.1 to 0.3 nm, so a nanometer is a few atoms laid side by side.
- DNA. The double helix is about 2.5 nm wide.
- Visible light. Wavelengths run 380 nm (violet) to 700 nm (red); anything shorter is ultraviolet.
- A human hair. About 75,000 nm across, tens of thousands of times wider than DNA.
Common questions
How many meters is one nanometer?
One nanometer is 0.000000001 meter, written 1 x 10 to the minus 9 meter. There are a billion nanometers in a meter.
How many nanometers are in a micrometer?
One micrometer (micron) is 1,000 nanometers. To go the other way, divide nanometers by 1,000 to get micrometers.
What is a nanometer in angstroms?
One nanometer equals 10 angstroms, since an angstrom is 0.1 nanometer. Angstroms are common in crystallography and atomic physics; a hydrogen atom is about 1 angstrom across.
