How Big Is 2 Centimeters (CM)? (With Examples)
Two centimeters, which equals just more than 0.79 inches, is such a small measurement that it’s hard to accurately visualize. It can be helpful to compare 2 centimeters to a few more common measurements to get a better feel for this short height or length.
A Piece of Paper
Most people can easily visualize a standard-sized piece of paper, so it’s a great comparison for various measurements. In the United States, a piece of paper is 11 inches tall and 8.5 inches wide or 28 centimeters tall and 21.5 centimeters wide.
This means that a piece of paper is almost 14 times taller than 2 centimeters and is about 10.76 times wider than 2 centimeters.
A Golf Tee
Whether or not you’ve ever played golf, you’re probably familiar with how a golf tee looks or how it feels to hold one in your hand. A golf tee is about 2.125 inches or 5.4 centimeters tall, so it’s 2.7 times taller than 2 centimeters.
A Dime
Coins are always a great way to estimate small sizes because they’re familiar objects that always have exact dimensions and weights. A dime is particularly useful in this case because it has a diameter of 0.705 inches or about 1.791 centimeters, so it’s only slightly smaller than 2 centimeters.
Nickels are another good comparison. A nickel has a diameter of 0.835 inches or 2.12 centimeters, so it’s just over 2 centimeters wide.
Thumbtacks
Thumb tacks are usually about 0.25 inches tall including the sharp metal tip. Three thumbtacks, therefore, add up to a height or length of about 0.75 inches, which is just shy of 2 centimeters.
A Pencil
A standard pencil is 7.5 inches or 19.05 centimeters long. This means you could mark off almost 10 sections of 2 centimeters along the pencil’s length. Only pencils that haven’t been sharpened and haven’t had their erasers used are exactly this length.
If the pencil has been used, it might be closer to 18 centimeters long, so you could mark off nine 2-centimeter sections.
A pencil eraser itself is about 1 centimeter long if it hasn’t been used yet. Therefore, two pencil erasers equal about 2 centimeters.
A Stamp
Stamps are another familiar item. Regular stamps are between 0.87 and 1.255 inches or 2.21 and 3.2 centimeters wide, so a small regular stamp is only a little wider than 2 centimeters.
These stamps also range from 0.98 to 1.5 inches or 2.5 to 3.81 centimeters tall, so a large regular stamp is only slightly less than double 2 centimeters tall.
A Dollar Bill
If you’ve lived in the U.S. for any amount of time, you’re probably familiar with the size of a dollar bill, and you can most likely easily visualize a bill in your mind. One dollar bill is 6.14 inches or about 15.6 centimeters wide and 2.61 inches or 6.6 centimeters tall.
This means that a dollar bill is just less than eight times wider than 2 centimeters and is about three times taller than 2 centimeters.
A House Key
House keys are an excellent visualization tool for 2 centimeters because you can compare the measurement in a few ways. First, most standard house keys are about 2 centimeters wide at their widest part, so picturing the part of the key that you would hold to lock or unlock a door can help you imagine 2 centimeters.
A house key is also usually around 6.7 centimeters long. This means that it’s about 3.4 times bigger than 2 centimeters.
A Spoon
Everyone can imagine what it feels like to hold a spoon, and this makes it easy to imagine their length. Typically, teaspoons, which are used for things like desserts or stirring coffee or tea, are between 5.5 and 6.5 inches long, while larger dinner spoons are about 7 to 7.5 inches long.
This means that an average spoon is between 14 centimeters and 19 centimeters long. A teaspoon will be between seven and eight times longer than 2 centimeters. A dinner spoon is between about 8.5 and 9.5 times longer than 2 centimeters.
A Paper Clip
A standard paper clip is about 1 inch long, so it’s only about half a centimeter over 2 centimeters. This makes a paper clip a great, quick way to roughly estimate 2 centimeters.
Large paper clips are usually about 2 inches long, which means they’re around 5 centimeters long or 2.5 times longer than 2 centimeters.
A Paperback Book
Paperback books are available in a few sizes. However, most people are familiar with the thick pocket-sized books known as mass-market paperbacks, and these books have a standard height and width, although they don’t all have the same thickness or weight.
A mass-market paperback is 6.75 inches or 17.12 centimeters tall and 4.25 inches or 10.8 centimeters wide. Therefore, a mass-market paperback is about 8.5 times taller and 5.4 times wider than 2 centimeters.
