CN Tower vs One World Trade Center
CN Tower (553 m) is 1.02× the size of One World Trade Center (541 m).
One World Trade Center is 98% of the height of CN Tower. The gap between them is 12 m (39.4 ft).
The comparison in numbers
| Thing | Size | In feet | Measured as |
|---|---|---|---|
| CN Tower | 553 m | 1,815 ft | height |
| One World Trade Center | 541 m | 1,776 ft | height |
What the scale shows
CN Tower (553 m) is 1.02× the size of One World Trade Center (541 m). The gap between them is 12 m (39.4 ft). Both are buildings & towers, so the figures describe the same kind of thing.
Draw both on one baseline and the smaller one fills 98% of the frame while the larger one runs to the top. The two are close enough that the difference is easy to see side by side.
Read the rest — 8 more sections
What each figure means
The figure for CN Tower is its height (structure height). The figure for One World Trade Center is its height (height to the tip of the spire (1,776 ft)).
Crossing them
Walking pace is 1.4 m/s, so crossing CN Tower's 553 m takes 6.6 minutes and One World Trade Center's 541 m takes 6.4 minutes.
In people: CN Tower is 325 adults of 1.7 m tall, One World Trade Center is 318.4. By size CN Tower is 7th of the 23 buildings & towers on this site and One World Trade Center is 8th, so 1 place separates them in the ranking.
How to read these two figures
Before trusting any comparison, check what each number measures. The CN Tower is given as a height, structure height. The One World Trade Center is given as a height, height to the tip of the spire (1,776 ft). Both are height figures, so putting them on one baseline is a like-for-like comparison, although the exact individual or convention still matters.
Building heights depend on the rule used: architectural height counts spires but not antennas, tip height counts everything. The basis is named with each figure.
Where the pair sits among all the sizes here
Across all 86 things on this site, the CN Tower is number 33 from the top and the One World Trade Center is number 34. No other item falls between them, so in this collection they are direct neighbours.
Because the collection spans 13 mm up to 1,392,700 km, a ratio of 107,130,769,231× from smallest to largest, the position of a pair says a lot: the pair sits in the middle of the range rather than at an extreme.
What the length ratio hides
A length ratio of 1.02× is easy to picture, but area and volume grow faster than length. If two objects had exactly the same shape, the CN Tower would have about 1.04× the surface or footprint of the One World Trade Center, and about 1.07× the volume. These two are not the same shape, so treat the figures as an upper bound for an imaginary scaled copy, not as a measurement of either one.
The drawing above shows length only. The One World Trade Center is drawn 98% as tall as the CN Tower, but the equivalent share of footprint would be only 95.7%, which is why the smaller one looks even slighter than the numbers alone suggest.
Time to cross each one
A sprinter holding about 10 m/s covers the CN Tower in 55 seconds and the One World Trade Center in 54 seconds. Sound, at about 343 m/s in air, takes 1.6 seconds for the larger and 1.6 seconds for the smaller. A jet cruising at 900 km/h needs 2.2 seconds and 2.2 seconds.
These times assume a straight line and constant speed, which no real crossing has, but they turn a number in metres into something the body understands. At any fixed speed the travel times keep the same 1.02× ratio as the sizes.
The same figures in other units
The CN Tower measures 553 m, which is 1,815 ft or 605.1 yards. The One World Trade Center measures 541 m, which is 1,776 ft.
The difference between them is 12 m (39.4 ft). In metres the smaller one is 541.3 against 553.3, so the 1.02× ratio holds in every unit; only the numbers on the ruler change.
Questions people ask about this pair
Which is bigger, the CN Tower or the One World Trade Center?
The CN Tower is bigger. At 553 m it is 1.02× the size of the One World Trade Center, which is 541 m.
How many times does the One World Trade Center fit along the CN Tower?
Less than twice: the One World Trade Center is 98% of the size of the CN Tower, so one fits with 12 m to spare.
Are the two figures measured the same way?
Yes in kind: both are height figures. The CN Tower is structure height; the One World Trade Center is height to the tip of the spire (1,776 ft).
How does the gap look in people?
Taking an adult of 1.7 m, the CN Tower is about 325 people tall and the One World Trade Center is about 318.4. The gap of 12 m is 7.1 people.
Where do the numbers come from?
Each item has its own page that names the measurement and links to the Wikipedia article it was taken from. Some figures are rounded, and animals vary from one individual to the next, so treat them as representative values rather than records for every case.
How the sizes are taken. Each figure says what it measures — height, length, diameter or elevation — and for which individual or convention. Everything is drawn standing upright on one baseline so a single scale holds, including things that are long rather than tall. Values come from the linked Wikipedia article for each item.