millimetre
Ruler with millimetre and centimetre marks
General information
Unit systemSI
Unit ofLength
Symbolmm
Named afterThe metric prefix mille (Latin for "one thousand") and the metre
Conversions
1 mm in ...... is equal to ...
   micrometres   1×103 μm = 1000 μm
   centimetres   1×10−1 cm = 0.1 cm
   metres   1×10−3 m = 0.001 m
   kilometres   1×10−6 km
   inches   0.039370 in
   feet   0.0032808 ft
Different lengths as in respect to the electromagnetic spectrum, measured by the metre and its derived scales. The microwave is between 1 meter to 1 millimeter.

The millimetre (international spelling; SI unit symbol mm) or millimeter (American spelling) is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousandth of a metre, which is the SI base unit of length. Therefore, there are one thousand millimetres in a metre. There are ten millimetres in a centimetre.

One millimetre is equal to 1000 micrometres or 1000000 nanometres. Since an inch is officially defined as exactly 25.4 millimetres, a millimetre is equal to exactly 5⁄127 (≈ 0.03937) of an inch.

Definition

Since 1983, the metre has been defined as "the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299792458 of a second".[1] A millimetre, 1/1000 of a metre, is therefore the distance travelled by light in 1/299792458000 of a second.

Informal terminology

A common shortening of millimetre in spoken English is "mil". This can cause confusion since in the United States, "mil" traditionally means a thousandth of an inch.

Unicode symbols

For the purposes of compatibility with Chinese, Japanese and Korean (CJK) characters, Unicode has symbols for:[2]

  • millimetre - U+339C ㎜ SQUARE MM
  • square millimetre - U+339F ㎟ SQUARE MM SQUARED
  • cubic millimetre U+33A3 ㎣ SQUARE MM CUBED

In Japanese typography, these square symbols are used for laying out unit symbols without distorting the grid layout of text characters.

Measurement

On a metric ruler, the smallest measurements are normally millimetres.[3] High-quality engineering rulers may be graduated in increments of 0.5 mm. Digital callipers are commonly capable of reading increments as small as 0.01 mm.[4]

Microwaves with a frequency of 300 GHz have a wavelength of 1 mm. Using frequencies between 30 GHz and 300 GHz for data transmission, in contrast to the 300 MHz to 3 GHz normally used in mobile devices, has the potential to allow data transfer rates of 10 gigabits per second.[5]

The smallest dimension the human eye can resolve is around 0.02 to 0.04 mm, approximately the width of a thin human hair.[6] A sheet of paper is typically between 0.07 mm and 0.18 mm thick, with ordinary printer paper or copy paper approximately 0.1 mm thick.[7]

See also

Look up millimetre in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References

  1. ↑ "17th General Conference on Weights and Measures (1983), Resolution 1". International Bureau of Weights and Measures. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  2. ↑ "CJK Compatibility" (PDF). unicode.org. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  3. ↑ "How do I read a ruler?". onlineconversion.com. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  4. ↑ "Accuracy of Calipers". TresnaInstrument.com. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  5. ↑ Huang, Kao-Cheng; Wang, Zhaocheng (2011). Millimeter Wave Communication Systems. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781118102756.
  6. ↑ "How Small Can the Naked Eye See?". Focus Magazine. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  7. ↑ Sherlis, Juliya (2001). Elert, Glenn (ed.). "Thickness of a piece of paper". The Physics Factbook. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
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