Picometre

<h2 id="use">Use</h2>
<p>The picometre's length is of an order so small that its application is almost entirely confined to <a href="/facts/Particle_physics/YgIuyj2t">particle physics</a>, <a href="/facts/Quantum_physics/BRc3Mzgr">quantum physics</a>, chemistry, and <a href="/facts/Acoustics/2GpQUymy">acoustics</a>. <a href="/facts/Atom/69syB8dH">Atoms</a> are between 62 and 520 pm in diameter, and the typical <a href="/facts/Bond_length/rHHIBH6q">length</a> of a carbon–carbon <a href="/facts/Covalent_bond/EzMLf3Pz">single bond</a> is 154 pm.  Smaller units still may be used to describe smaller particles (some of which are the components of atoms themselves), such as <a href="/facts/Hadron/C0sd1zty">hadrons</a> and the upper limits of possible size for <a href="/facts/Fermion/LEckdDsR">fermion</a> point particles.
</p><p>The <a href="/facts/Laser_Interferometer_Space_Antenna/DAISKwem">Laser Interferometer Space Antenna</a> (LISA) probe is planned for launch in 2034 to directly detect <a href="/facts/Gravitational_wave/4XWN3NtG">gravitational waves</a> and will measure relative displacements with a resolution of 20 picometres over a distance of 2.5 gigametres, yielding a strain sensitivity of better than 1 part in 1020.
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<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Deza, Elena; Deza, Michel Marie (2006). Dictionary of Distances. Elsevier. ISBN 0-444-52087-2. <a href="0-444-52087-2" target="_blank">0-444-52087-2</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Rowlett, Russ (2018). "How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement". <a href="https://www.ibiblio.org/units/" target="_blank">https://www.ibiblio.org/units/</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Picometre open-in-new

Picometre