Financing Narrative (Details) ¥ in Billions					1 Months Ended	4 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
		Aug. 28, 2017 USD ($)	Aug. 24, 2017 JPY (¥)	Jun. 16, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 JPY (¥)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Sep. 29, 2017	Jun. 20, 2016 USD ($)
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt discounts, premiums and issuance costs								$ 20,100,000		$ 18,200,000
Long-term debt	[1]									3,122,400,000
Proceeds from borrowings (maturities longer than 90 days)							$ 125,900,000	2,978,100,000	$ 0
Long-term borrowings, carrying value								3,358,000,000		4,056,200,000
Debt proceeds, net of issuance costs								3,000,000,000
Payments of dividends					$ 3,000,000,000		97,200,000	48,400,000	$ 0
Interest Paid							$ 92,000,000	44,000,000
Commercial Paper [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term borrowings, carrying value										948,600,000
Commercial Paper [Member] | US Dollar-Denominated Commercial Paper [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt term							23 days
Long-term borrowings, carrying value								347,900,000		665,100,000
Short-term maturity period (maximum)							397 days
Weighted average annual interest rate											1.74%
Commercial Paper [Member] | Euro Denominated Commercial Paper [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt term							32 days
Long-term borrowings, carrying value								26,800,000		282,700,000
Short-term maturity period (maximum)							183 days
Weighted average annual interest rate											(0.08%)
Senior Notes [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt	[1]									2,500,000,000
Senior Notes [Member] | Debt Instrument, Redemption, Period One [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Redemption Price, Percentage							101.00%
Senior Notes [Member] | Senior Unsecured Notes due 2019 [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term borrowings, carrying value								298,300,000		298,900,000
Interest rate												1.80%
Aggregate principle amount												$ 300,000,000
Percentage issued												99.893%
Senior Notes [Member] | Senior Unsecured Notes due 2021 [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term borrowings, carrying value								744,800,000		745,900,000
Interest rate												2.35%
Aggregate principle amount												$ 750,000,000
Percentage issued												99.977%
Senior Notes [Member] | Senior Unsecured Notes due 2026 [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term borrowings, carrying value								890,100,000		$ 891,000,000
Interest rate												3.15%
Aggregate principle amount												$ 900,000,000
Percentage issued												99.644%
Senior Notes [Member] | Initial Senior Unsecured Notes due 2046 [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate												4.30%
Aggregate principle amount												$ 350,000,000
Percentage issued												99.783%
Senior Notes [Member] | Additional Senior Unsecured Notes due 2046 [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate												4.30%
Aggregate principle amount												$ 200,000,000
Percentage issued												101.564%
Yen Term Loan [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt term			5 years
Line of credit facility, maximum borrowing capacity | ¥			¥ 13.8
Long-term debt | ¥						¥ 13.8
Proceeds from borrowings (maturities longer than 90 days)		$ 126,000,000
Line of credit facility, interest rate at period end						0.50%				0.50%
Line of credit facility, interest rate during period						0.50%
Long-term borrowings, carrying value								0		$ 122,400,000
Term Loan [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt term				3 years
Senior unsecured revolving credit facility				$ 500,000,000
Long-term borrowings, carrying value				$ 500,000,000				500,000,000		$ 500,000,000
Interest rate						2.69%				2.69%
Annual effective rate						2.24%				2.24%
Revolving Credit Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt term				5 years
Senior unsecured revolving credit facility				$ 1,500,000,000
Revolving credit facility, extension option				1 year
Additional increase to the Credit Agreement				$ 500,000,000
Consolidated net leverage ratio covenant (less than)							3.50
Consolidated interest coverage ratio covenant (greater than)							3.50
Borrowings outstanding on line of credit										$ 0
Federal Funds Effective Swap Rate [Member] | Revolving Credit Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Spread on variable rate							0.50%
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member] | Yen Term Loan [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Spread on variable rate							0.50%
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member] | Revolving Credit Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Spread on variable rate							1.00%
Minimum [Member] | Revolving Credit Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Annual facility fee on Revolving Credit Facility							0.09%
Maximum [Member] | Revolving Credit Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Annual facility fee on Revolving Credit Facility							0.25%
Danaher Corporation [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Payments of dividends								$ 3,000,000,000

[1] Not included in the table above are net discounts, premiums and issuance costs associated with the Registered Notes, which totaled $18.2 million as of December 31, 2017, and have been recorded as an offset to the carrying amount of the related debt in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2017. In addition, the table above does not include principal balances of $948.6 million under the Commercial Paper Programs and other financing balances of $3.4 million.