Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A unit of length equal to one hundred-millionth (10−8) of a centimeter, used especially to specify radiation wavelengths.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun physics A very small unit of length, 10-10 m, approximately the size of an atom, used especially to measure the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation or distances between atoms. Symbol Å

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[After Anders Jonas Ångström.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the name of the Swedish physicist Anders Jonas Ångström.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word angstrom.

Examples

  • (An angstrom is one ten-billionth of a meter, the approximate diameter of a single atom.)

    Boing Boing: September 19, 2004 - September 25, 2004 Archives 2004

  • TEAM 0.5 is capable of producing images with a resolution of one-half angstrom, which is less than the diameter of a single hydrogen atom.

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2009

  • TEAM 0.5 is capable of producing images with a resolution of one-half angstrom, which is less than the diameter of a single hydrogen atom.

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2009

  • In science news: I recently used the word "angstrom" in a humorous context, and many people laughed, and some people sneered (mostly engineers), and the wonderful Melissa Evans just gave me the facts, ma'am:

    SFGate: Top News Stories Jon Carroll 2010

  • In science news: I recently used the word "angstrom" in a humorous context, and many people laughed, and some people sneered (mostly engineers), and the wonderful Melissa Evans just gave me the facts, ma'am:

    SFGate: Top News Stories Jon Carroll 2010

  • In science news: I recently used the word "angstrom" in a humorous context, and many people laughed, and some people sneered (mostly engineers), and the wonderful Melissa Evans just gave me the facts, ma'am:

    SFGate: Top News Stories Jon Carroll 2010

  • - With such capabilities, this guy could be an ultimate multilinguist if there ever was one instead of squandering his abilities on rapping in a fake language ... angstrom

    Klingon-Language Rapper 2009

  • - With such capabilities, this guy could be an ultimate multilinguist if there ever was one instead of squandering his abilities on rapping in a fake language ... angstrom

    Klingon-Language Rapper » E-Mail 2009

  • A new imaging technique developed by researchers at the University of Illinois overcomes the limit of diffraction and can reveal the atomic structure of a single nanocrystal with a resolution of less than one angstrom (less than one hundred-millionth of a centimeter).

    Friday! aaronace 2009

  • I've never bought a jar of Hellmann's without first comparing it's per ounce, pound, angstrom unit, or whatever the applicable measurement, price to that of Kraft, Cains, etc.

    Gaming the Groceries Ralph Gardner Jr. 2012

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • unit of emotional pain

    February 20, 2007

  • Ha! Though that implies your emotional pain is very, very small, since an angstrom is also "A unit of measure for a wavelength of light equal to ten one billionths of a meter or one-tenth of a nanometer. 10^-10 meters", according to this.

    October 5, 2007

  • Mega-angstrom?

    October 5, 2007

  • A mega-angstrom is still really small, 10^-4. I think you should start with Tera-angstrom and work your way up from there.

    October 6, 2007

  • True. Tera-angstrom it is.

    October 6, 2007

  • So how many tera-angstroms in a Rabbit Angstrom?

    October 6, 2007

  • Point sionnach, for the Updike reference! I enjoyed the Rabbit series, but I *love* The Centaur.

    October 6, 2007

  • measure of computer-related anxiety equivalent to 1000 nail-bytes

    November 7, 2007