All things · Under the Microscope

White blood cell: how big is it?

White blood cell is about 12 µm. In everyday terms, that is ≈ 113,000 hydrogen atoms.

Size

12 µm

In metres

1.20 × 10⁻⁵ m

Everyday comparison

≈ 113,000 hydrogen atoms

Chapter

Under the Microscope

Did you know?

Your body's patrol. Neutrophils, the most common kind, hunt down and swallow bacteria.

How it compares

• About 1.6× bigger than Red blood cell (7.5 µm).
• About 2.5× smaller than Skin cell (30 µm).

Other things of a similar size

• E. coli bacterium 2 µm
• Platelet 2.5 µm
• Red blood cell 7.5 µm
• Skin cell 30 µm
• Sunflower pollen 35 µm
• Human hair (width) 70 µm

Sizes are rounded, typical values drawn from standard reference sources, including NIST/CODATA physical constants and NASA's planetary fact sheets. Real objects vary; see About for how sizes are chosen.