Written by the Fiveable Content Team โข Last updated September 2025
Verified for the 2026 exam
Verified for the 2026 examโขWritten by the Fiveable Content Team โข Last updated September 2025
Definition
A nanometer is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one billionth of a meter. It's often used to measure things that are very small, like atoms and molecules.
Related terms
Angstrom: A unit of measurement used in atomic physics and chemistry, equal to 0.1 nanometers.
Micrometer: Another unit of length in the metric system, which is larger than a nanometer but smaller than a millimeter. One micrometer equals 1,000 nanometers.
Picometer: This is even smaller than a nanometer - it's one trillionth of a meter or one thousandth of a nanometer.