femtometer

[ fem-tuh-mee-ter ]

noun

, Physics.

1. fermi. : fm

Word History and Origins

Origin of femtometer¹

First recorded in 1970–75; femto- + meter ¹

Example Sentences

The detectors must also squelch other vibrations to stabilize the length of each arm to 1 femtometer, the width of a proton.

From Science Magazine

Pohl and his team were surprised to find a lower value for the radius, pegging it at 0.84 femtometer—well outside the range of potential sizes established by earlier measurements.

From Scientific American

The surprise was an answer that was 4 percent smaller, 0.84184 femtometer.

From New York Times

Putting these techniques together gave an answer of about 0.8768 femtometer for the proton’s radius, just less than a quadrillionth of a meter.

From New York Times