How big are the bacteria?

Andy says you might as well ask, How big is an animal? A whale is a monster and a mouse is a tiny fellow. And so it goes with the bacteria. Some are monsters    for bacteria, that is    some are tiny fellows    even for bacteria.

Measured through the middle, 6,000 of the biggest bacteria would spread over an inch. The diameters of 100,000 of the smallest bacteria would measure about one inch. The diameters of 25,000 medium sized bacteria would measure about one inch.

We can better understand this minute size when we compare the tiny creatures to something we know. One thousand medium sized bacteria could line up on the thickness of a dime.