What is a micron?
A micron is one millionth of a meter, or 0.000001 meters. Its symbol is µm, the Greek letter mu followed by m.
'Micron' is the older name for the micrometer, and the SI dropped it in 1967. It survives on filter ratings anyway – a 5 micron filter catches particles down to about 5 micrometers.
What is a millimeter?
A millimeter is a thousandth of a meter (1/1000) which is the SI (International System of Units) unit of length. It is normally used to measure small lengths like the thickness of a sheet of paper or the dimensions of a small object.
One millimeter is approximately equal to 0.03937 inches (about 1/25th). Presicely there are 25.4 millimeters in an inch and it is often used in science and engineering. It is used in countries that have adopted the metric system.
You may come across millimeters when measuring the size of electronic components, jewelry or even the thickness of a fingernail.