Size

A diagram comparing the size of an average human diver to the size of the modern great white shark, whale shark, and the prehistoric megalodon. The illustration also contains a linear measurement in meters in the middle.
A size comparison illustration comparing the sizes of various planets and stars. In each grouping after the first, the last object from the previous group is presented as the first object of the following group, to present a continuous sense of comparison.
A bat skull next to a ruler used to measure size. Size: 7 mm (0.28 in)
A finch egg next to a dime; a person familiar with the size of a dime would thereby have a sense of the size of the egg.
Forced perspective illusion wherein the perceived size of the Sphinx next to a human is distorted by the incomplete view of both, and the appearance of physical contact between the two.

Size in general is the magnitude or dimensions of a thing. More specifically, geometrical size (or spatial size) can refer to three geometrical measures: length, area, or volume. Length can be generalized to other linear dimensions (width, height, diameter, perimeter). Size can also be measured in terms of mass, especially when assuming a density range.

This animation gives a sense of the scale of some of the known objects in our universe.

In mathematical terms, "size is a concept abstracted from the process of measuring by comparing a longer to a shorter".[1] Size is determined by the process of comparing or measuring objects, which results in the determination of the magnitude of a quantity, such as length or mass, relative to a unit of measurement. Such a magnitude is usually expressed as a numerical value of units on a previously established spatial scale, such as meters or inches.

The sizes with which humans tend to be most familiar are body dimensions (measures of anthropometry), which include measures such as human height and human body weight. These measures can, in the aggregate, allow the generation of commercially useful distributions of products that accommodate expected body sizes,[2] as with the creation of clothing sizes and shoe sizes, and with the standardization of door frame dimensions, ceiling heights, and bed sizes. The human experience of size can lead to a psychological tendency towards size bias,[3] wherein the relative importance or perceived complexity of organisms and other objects is judged based on their size relative to humans, and particularly whether this size makes them easy to observe without aid.

  1. ^ C. Smoryński, History of Mathematics: A Supplement (2008), p. 76.
  2. ^ Thomas T. Samaras, Human Body Size and the Laws of Scaling (2007), p. 3.
  3. ^ "The notion that bacteria are primitive, unsophisticated organisms stems from what I would call size chauvinism". Matthews, Clifford (1995). Cosmic beginnings and human ends : where science and religion meet. Chicago and LaSalle, Ill: Open Court. p. 208. ISBN 978-0-8126-9270-9. OCLC 31435749.

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