micrometer
(noun)
An SI/MKS unit of measure, the length of one one-millionth of a meter. Symbols: µm, um, rm
Examples of micrometer in the following topics:
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SI Unit Prefixes
- Thus a millionth of a meter is a micrometer, not a millimillimeter, and a millionth of a kilogram is a milligram, not a microkilogram.
- In older usage, a micron (a measurement often encountered in physics and engineering) is the same as a micrometer, 10-6 meters.
- Another older form of usage, the millimicron, is one thousandth of a micrometer, or 1 thousandth of 10-6 meters, or 10-9 meter, now called a nanometer.
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Units of Measurement for Microbes
- The units used to describe objects on a microscopic length scale are most commonly the Micrometer (oi) - one millionth of 1 meter and smaller units.
- Most microbes are around 1 micrometer in size.
- Animal cells are typically around 10 micrometers in size.
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Microbe Size
- To put a numerical value on microbial size, most measurements of microbes are done with the unit of measure of micrometer, which is one millionth of a meter (one 2,500th of an inch).
- These bacteria range in size from 0.2 x 0.5 micrometers to 0.3 x 2.0 micrometers.
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Scanned-Probe Microscopy
- A scan may cover a distance of over 100 micrometers in the x and y directions and 4 micrometers in the z direction.
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Adherence
- Fimbriae are fine filaments of protein, just 3–10 nanometers in diameter and up to several micrometers in length.
- This appendage ranges from 3-10 nanometers in diameter and can be up to several micrometers long.
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Intracellular Pathogens
- They typically range between 1 and 5 micrometers in length.
- The typical fungal spore size is 1 to 40 micrometers in length.
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Rickettsial Diseases
- These bacteria range in size from 0.2 x 0.5 micrometers to 0.3 x 2.0 micrometers.
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Components of Blood
- Erythrocytes (also called red blood cells) are about seven to eight micrometers in diameter and have a disk shape.
- Leukocytes (also called white blood cells or WBCs) are usually larger in size (10-14 micrometers in diameter) than red blood cells and they lack hemoglobin but do contain organelles, a nucleus, and nuclear DNA.
- Thrombocytes (also called platelets) are between one to two micrometers in diameter.
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Air Wedge
- The air gap between the two glass plates has two unique properties: it is very thin (micrometer scale) and has perfect flatness.
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Nitrospirae and Deferribacter
- It is a Gram-negative nitrite-oxidizing organism with a helical to vibroid morphology 0.9-2.2 x 0.2-0.4 micrometers in size.