Willis Tower vs Emma Maersk
Willis Tower (442 m) is 1.11× the size of Emma Maersk (397 m).
Emma Maersk is 90% of the height of Willis Tower. The gap between them is 45.1 m (148 ft).
The comparison in numbers
| Thing | Size | In feet | Measured as |
|---|---|---|---|
| Willis Tower | 442 m | 1,450 ft | height |
| Emma Maersk | 397 m | 1,302 ft | length |
What the scale shows
Willis Tower (442 m) is 1.11× the size of Emma Maersk (397 m). The gap between them is 45.1 m (148 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 90% 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 Willis Tower is its height (to the roof (527 m with antennas)). The figure for Emma Maersk is its length (overall length).
Crossing them
Walking pace is 1.4 m/s, so crossing Willis Tower's 442 m takes 5.3 minutes and Emma Maersk's 397 m takes 4.7 minutes.
In people: Willis Tower is 260 adults of 1.7 m tall, Emma Maersk is 233.5. By size Willis Tower is 12th of the 23 buildings & towers on this site, while Emma Maersk is 1st of the 14 vehicles & ships.
How to read these two figures
Before trusting any comparison, check what each number measures. The Willis Tower is given as a height, to the roof (527 m with antennas). The Emma Maersk 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 Willis Tower is number 38 from the top and the Emma Maersk is number 39. 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 1.11× is easy to picture, but area and volume grow faster than length. If two objects had exactly the same shape, the Willis Tower would have about 1.24× the surface or footprint of the Emma Maersk, and about 1.38× 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 Emma Maersk is drawn 90% as tall as the Willis Tower, but the equivalent share of footprint would be only 80.6%, 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 Willis Tower in 44 seconds and the Emma Maersk in 40 seconds. Sound, at about 343 m/s in air, takes 1.3 seconds for the larger and 1.2 seconds for the smaller. A jet cruising at 900 km/h needs 1.8 seconds and 1.6 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 1.11× ratio as the sizes.
The same figures in other units
The Willis Tower measures 442 m, which is 1,450 ft or 483.5 yards. The Emma Maersk measures 397 m, which is 1,302 ft.
The difference between them is 45.1 m (148 ft). In metres the smaller one is 397 against 442.1, so the 1.11× ratio holds in every unit; only the numbers on the ruler change.
Questions people ask about this pair
Which is bigger, the Willis Tower or the Emma Maersk?
The Willis Tower is bigger. At 442 m it is 1.11× the size of the Emma Maersk, which is 397 m.
How many times does the Emma Maersk fit along the Willis Tower?
Less than twice: the Emma Maersk is 90% of the size of the Willis Tower, so one fits with 45.1 m to spare.
Are the two figures measured the same way?
No. The Willis Tower is a height (to the roof (527 m with antennas)) and the Emma Maersk 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 Willis Tower is about 260 people tall and the Emma Maersk is about 233.5. The gap of 45.1 m is 27 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.