An attometer (am) is an even smaller unit of measurement used to express incredibly tiny distances. It is equal to one quintillionth of a meter, which is 0.000000000000000001 meters or 1 × 10^-18 meters. The prefix "atto" denotes a factor of 10^-18 in the International System of Units (SI).
Attometers are used in the most specialized and precise scientific research, particularly in the field of particle physics and in discussions about fundamental particles. These distances are relevant when studying the properties and interactions of subatomic particles, such as quarks and neutrinos, which have dimensions on the scale of attometers.
To put it into perspective, the size of an attometer is approximately a billion times smaller than the diameter of a hydrogen atom, which is already on the order of picometers. Attometers are among the smallest scales of measurement used in scientific research and are essential for understanding the behavior of matter at the most fundamental level.
A "pica" is a unit of measurement commonly used in typography and desktop publishing to represent the size of text, fonts, and other elements on a printed page. The pica is part of a system of measurement used in the field of typesetting, which involves arranging and designing text for printed materials.
In the pica system:
1 pica (abbreviated as "p") is equal to 12 points. 1 point (abbreviated as "pt") is approximately equal to 1/72nd of an inch.
So, 1 pica is roughly equal to 1/6th of an inch.
This system is based on the traditional point system used in printing, where a point is a very small unit of measurement. Picas and points are still widely used in the design and printing industry, especially when specifying font sizes, line spacing, and other layout details for printed materials like books, magazines, and newspapers.
In digital design and modern desktop publishing software, you can often switch between using picas and points or other units like inches, millimeters, or pixels to set and adjust the layout of text and graphic elements.