Return to Scale View
About News Create With Us
Return to Scale View

How big is a Tyrannosaurus Rex?

A Tyrannosaurus Rex is 7 metros

Introduction: What is a Twip?

Have you ever stopped to consider the minuscule measurements that make up the world around us? One such measurement is the twip, a tiny unit used for typography. The term “twip” is short for “twentieth of a point”, or in some cases, “twentieth of an inch point”. It’s a fascinating concept that such a tiny unit can have such a significant impact on the words we read every day.

The Size of a Twip

When it comes to size, a twip is incredibly small. A single twip is defined as 1/20 of a typographical point. To put this into perspective, there are 1440 twips in just one inch. In other words, one twip is 1/1440 inch. If we were to convert this into micrometers, a unit of length in the metric system, a twip measures in at approximately 17.64 μm.

Size Comparison: Twip Vs. Other Units

To truly grasp how small a twip is, let’s compare it to some other common units of measurement:

  • Human Hair: The average thickness of a human hair ranges from 17,000 to 181,000 micrometers. A single twip is 17.64 micrometers, which means you would need about 964 twips to equal the thickness of the thinnest human hair!
  • Grain of Sand: The size of a grain of sand varies, but it can be anywhere from 62,500 to 2,000,000 micrometers. In comparison, a twip is incredibly tiny.
  • Typographical Point: As mentioned before, a twip is 1/20 of a typographical point. That means 20 twips make up a single point.

The Importance of Twips

Despite its small size, a twip plays a crucial role in typography and digital design. It’s used as a unit of measurement in several computer applications, including Microsoft Word and Excel. For example, when you’re adjusting the size of the text or the width of a column in Excel, you’re essentially working with twips.

Interesting Facts about Twips

  • The concept of a twip was introduced by Microsoft to ensure the consistent display of screen elements across different devices.
  • Twips offer a high level of accuracy in layout and design work, making it possible to align text and graphics with precision.
  • A twip is device-independent. This means it maintains the same size regardless of the resolution of the device it’s displayed on. In conclusion, the twip may be a small unit of measurement, but it’s a powerful tool in the world of typography and digital design. Its precision and consistency make it indispensable in ensuring the clear and accurate display of text and graphics on various devices.
Smaller By Category
Giraffe
The giraffe is the tallest land mammal at a mind-boggling 6 meters! Its neck alone is almost half of its entire height. Adult giraffes are so tall that the only way for predators to kill them is to push them onto their side!
Saguaro Cactus
Not all Saguaro cacti grow to be 14 meters tall, unfortunately. Some may only be a measly five meters tall. Some are armless - those are called spears. It takes saguaro cacti 75 years to fully grow an arm, while it takes humans less than 20.
Elephant
The elephant is the largest land animal. Only three species of elephants remain. They can weigh up to 8 tons, which is about 10 times the weight any human has ever achieved!
Larger By Category
Apollo Lunar Module
This thing weighs 15,000 kilograms! That's a lot! It also landed on the Moon. Its landing inspired the arcade game "Lunar Lander” which is not easy. When I play, I always run out of fuel!
Oak Tree
The oak tree is a tree. They can live a very long time, longer than even a human can! Oak trees produce thousands of acorns a year. Acorns are good. Almost as good as ice cubes.
Average U.S. House
These houses of the United States have been getting larger. In the last 40 years, the average house has almost doubled in area! They are so large that you could fit 1,000 people in them! It would be pretty cramped, though.