1. How Big is a Nanometer?
IBM chip
UMass Logo
TI mirror array

2. Adapted from Nanosense
This activity
On our website
Other useful nanoscience materials
Other nanotechnology and power of ten resources:

3. The Nano Scale
Nano materials are typically 1 to 100 nanometers in size
1 nanometer = 1/1,000,000,000 meters
How do such materials fit into the overall scale of objects in nature?
And how big is a nanometer in terms of something basic?

4. We’ll use powers of ten
Handy way to express very large or very small numbers.
Easier than writing lots of zeros!
106
reads 'ten to the 6'
is 1 followed by 6 zeros, 1,000,000
is 1.0 with the point moved right by 6 places

5. Negative powers of 10 10-6 reads 'ten to the minus 6'
is 1 divided by 106 , 1/1,000,000
is 1.0 with the point moved left by six places, 0.000,001

6. How big is a meter?
Width?
~2 meters
Height?
~ 1 meter

7. 101 meters = 10 meters
Adapted from

8. 100 meter = 1 meter

9. 10-1 meters = 0.1 meters
fly

10. 10-2 meters = 0.01m
1 centimeter = 1 cm

11. 10-3 meters = meters
1 millimeter = 1 mm
Fly’s eye

12. 10-4 meters = meters
Fly’s eye as seen with electron microscope

13. 10-5 meters = meters
Red blood cells

14. 10-6 meters = 0.000,001 meters
Bacteria

15. 10-7 meters = 0.000,000,1 meters
Computer Chip details
10-7 meters

16. 10-8 meters = 0.000,000,01 meters
“Quantum corral” of iron atoms on a copper surface

17. 10-9 meters = 0.000,000,001 meters DNA (1 nanometer = 1 nm)
3 nanometers
DNA

18. meters = 0.000,000,000,1 meters
Carbon atom, with 6 electrons and a nucleus

19. 10-14 meters = 0.000,000,000,000,01 meters Carbon nucleus,
made up of 6 protons and 6 neutrons

20. Proton (or neutron) composed of 3 quarks
meters = 0.000,000,000,000,001 meters
1 femtometer = 1 fm
Proton (or neutron) composed of 3 quarks

21. So how big is a nanometer?
Carbon atom diameter ~ m
10 x m = m
1 nanometer ~ 10 atoms wide
Nano wires and tubes are x 10 atoms in diameter
Nano films are a x 10 atoms in thickness
Nano particles are 1 to 100 x 10 atoms in diameter

22. The Size Me Challenge Each team has an envelope containing
A 3 page list of powers of ten
24 picture cards
Place each card next to the appropriate power of ten
Size matches will be approximate
Some matches will be easy, some will be hard!

23. That’s all for now