The nanoscale is usually refers to structures with a length scale applicable to nanotechnology usually cited as 1–100 nanometers. A nanometer is a billionth of a meter. The nanoscopic scale is a lower bound to the mesoscopic scale for most solids. For technical purposes the nanoscopic scale is the size at which fluctuations in the averaged properties begin to have a significant effect on the behavior of a system and must be taken into account in its analysis.