Leaning Tower of Pisa vs Boeing 737-800
Leaning Tower of Pisa (56 m) is 1.42× the size of Boeing 737-800 (39.5 m).
Boeing 737-800 is 71% of the height of Leaning Tower of Pisa. The gap between them is 16.5 m (54.1 ft).
The comparison in numbers
| Thing | Size | In feet | Measured as |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leaning Tower of Pisa | 56 m | 184 ft | height |
| Boeing 737-800 | 39.5 m | 130 ft | length |
What the scale shows
Leaning Tower of Pisa (56 m) is 1.42× the size of Boeing 737-800 (39.5 m). The gap between them is 16.5 m (54.1 ft). One is among the buildings & towers and the other among the vehicles & ships, so the figures are standing in for different kinds of size — read the basis below.
Draw both on one baseline and the smaller one fills 71% 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 Leaning Tower of Pisa is its height (average height of the tower). The figure for Boeing 737-800 is its length (overall length).
Crossing them
Walking pace is 1.4 m/s, so crossing Leaning Tower of Pisa's 56 m takes 40 seconds and Boeing 737-800's 39.5 m takes 28 seconds.
In people: Leaning Tower of Pisa is 33 adults of 1.7 m tall, Boeing 737-800 is 23.2. By size Leaning Tower of Pisa is 22nd of the 23 buildings & towers on this site, while Boeing 737-800 is 12th of the 14 vehicles & ships.
How to read these two figures
Before trusting any comparison, check what each number measures. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is given as a height, average height of the tower. The Boeing 737-800 is given as a length, overall length. One is a height and the other is a length, so the drawing stands them side by side by convention: everything is stood upright on a single baseline so one scale can hold. That is a fair way to compare overall extent, not a claim that the two are oriented the same way in real life.
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. Vehicles are listed by overall length. Rockets are the exception and are given as full stack height standing on the pad. Everything is drawn standing upright so one scale holds.
Where the pair sits among all the sizes here
Across all 86 things on this site, the Leaning Tower of Pisa is number 59 from the top and the Boeing 737-800 is number 60. 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: both sit in the lower third of the list.
What the length ratio hides
A length ratio of 1.42× is easy to picture, but area and volume grow faster than length. If two objects had exactly the same shape, the Leaning Tower of Pisa would have about 2.01× the surface or footprint of the Boeing 737-800, and about 2.85× 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 Boeing 737-800 is drawn 71% as tall as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but the equivalent share of footprint would be only 49.8%, 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 Leaning Tower of Pisa in 5.6 seconds and the Boeing 737-800 in 4 seconds. Sound, at about 343 m/s in air, takes 163 milliseconds for the larger and 115 milliseconds for the smaller. A jet cruising at 900 km/h needs 224 milliseconds and 158 milliseconds.
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 1.42× ratio as the sizes.
The same figures in other units
The Leaning Tower of Pisa measures 56 m, which is 184 ft or 61.2 yards. The Boeing 737-800 measures 39.5 m, which is 130 ft.
The difference between them is 16.5 m (54.1 ft). In metres the smaller one is 39.5 against 56, so the 1.42× ratio holds in every unit; only the numbers on the ruler change.
Questions people ask about this pair
Which is bigger, the Leaning Tower of Pisa or the Boeing 737-800?
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is bigger. At 56 m it is 1.42× the size of the Boeing 737-800, which is 39.5 m.
How many times does the Boeing 737-800 fit along the Leaning Tower of Pisa?
Less than twice: the Boeing 737-800 is 71% of the size of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, so one fits with 16.5 m to spare.
Are the two figures measured the same way?
No. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a height (average height of the tower) and the Boeing 737-800 is a length (overall length), so read the comparison as overall extent.
How does the gap look in people?
Taking an adult of 1.7 m, the Leaning Tower of Pisa is about 33 people tall and the Boeing 737-800 is about 23.2. The gap of 16.5 m is 9.7 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.