Things that come in 5s
As you will soon see, there are many instances of things that come in 5s. Many have to do with math and the sciences. Others are more commonly used in the study of the tectonic plates or the continents that make up our planet.
Of course, the Olympics are well known for using both the 5 rings to represent the continents, and 5 colors to represent the nature of the world and the emotions and human feelings evoked during the competition.
While there are quite a few examples of things that come in 5s there is an interesting bit of history on why 5s were adopted as a system in manufacturing that is used to enhance efficiency, productivity, and effectiveness via its 5 key steps…Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain.
This idea originated in Japan in conjunction with Toyota and their production system. It was so simple and effective that it became a very popular standard and has been adopted all over the world to help increase efficient productivity.
Also, where would we be without the vowels that make up the English language that we know and use over much of the country and the planet? The 5 vowels are the cornerstone to all words and especially important on the game show, Wheel of Fortune…lol. I hope you enjoyed this little walk-through of things that come in 5s. Let’s now have a look at the list.
List of things that come in 5s
1 – As mentioned above, the Japanese ideology of manufacturing (Sort, Set, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain) has been adopted around the world and has become the benchmark for productivity and the measure of success for manufacturing and other industries.
2 – Fingers on one hand (Thumb, Index, Middle, Ring, Pinky).
3 – Toes on one foot (big, Index, middle, fourth, and little).
4 – Senses (sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell).
5 – Five branches of the US Military (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard).
6 – Olympic rings (They represent 5 continents of the world).
7 – Points on a starfish.
8 – Sides of a pentagon.
9 – Major oceans of the world (Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, Southern/Antarctic).
10- Great Lakes in North America (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario).
11- Days in a typical workweek (Monday through Friday).
12- Vowels in the English alphabet (A, E, I, O, U).
13- Human vertebrae in the neck (cervical vertebrae).
14- Petals of a typical flower (many flowers also have petals that are in multiples of five).
15- Phases of matter (solid, liquid, gas, plasma, Bose-Einstein condensate).
16- Elements in the fifth group of the periodic table (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Arsenic, Antimony, Bismuth).
17- Olympic continents (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania).
18- Stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance).
19- Ocean layers (epipelagic, mesopelagic, bathypelagic, abyssopelagic, hadalpelagic).
20- Digits in a standard U.S. ZIP code ( representing state, city, and region).
21- Basic tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami/savory).
22- Parts of a standard essay (introduction, three body paragraphs, conclusion).
23- Olympic values (friendship, excellence, respect, courage, determination).
24- Star formation stages (dust & gas, protostar, main sequence, red giant, white dwarf).

Things that come in fives continued
25- Major phases of the moon (new, crescent, quarter, gibbous, and full).
26- Olympic rings colors (blue, yellow, black, green, red). They represent the Sky and Sea, Sun, Strength, Land and nature, Passion, and Energy.
27- Components of the basic DNA nucleotide (phosphate group, deoxyribose sugar, adenine base, thymine base, phosphate group).
28- Major PGA golf championships (Masters, U.S. Open, The Open Championship, PGA Championship, Players Championship).
29- Food groups (Proteins, Carbohydrates, Fats, Vitamins, Minerals).
30- A balanced meal (Protein, Carbohydrates, Fats, Vegetables, Fruits).
31- Major extinction events (Ordovician-Silurian, Late Devonian, Permian-Triassic, Triassic-Jurassic, Cretaceous-Paleogene).
32- Strings on a banjo
33- Main parts of a rifle (barrel, stock, sight, action, and magazine).
34- Chinese 5-spice mix ingredients (cinnamon, cloves, fennel seeds, peppercorns, and star anise).
35- Basketball Positions (point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, center).
36- Pillars of Islam ( Shahada, Salah, Zakat, Sawm,Hajj).
37- Platonic Graphs ( tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, icosahedron).
38- Fundamental Operations in Arithmetic (addition, multiplication, division, subtraction, and exponentiation).
39- Platonic Lattices (cubic, tetragonal, orthorhombic, rhombohedral, hexagonal).
40- Horizontal lines on a staff of music.
41- Cards in a hand of poker.
42- The elements of nature in classical Greek philosophy (Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Ether/Spirit).
43- The elements in Chinese medicine, Feng Shui, and philosophy (Earth, Fire, Metal, Water, Wood).
44- Quintuplets.
45- Pentathlon sports (The modern version includes racing, swimming, fencing, shooting, and running).
46- Toes on most birds’ feet.
47- Kingdoms of living things (animals, plants, fungi, protists, and prokaryotes).
48- Most important parts of a computer (motherboard, CPU, GPU, RAM, and storage).
49- Main parts of a plant (root, stem, leaves, fruit, and flowers).
50- Number of players on a futsal team.
51- Gallons in most office water jugs.
52- Number of Buddhist precepts used as life guidelines.
53- Number of notes per octave in a pentatonic scale.
Related activities
If you enjoyed the list of things that come in fives, you want to have a look at the list of things that come in pairs.