Introduction to Nanotechnology
The Basics
Weighing in on Scale
Nanotechnology is the science of the extremely tiny. According to the US Government’s National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) “nanotechnology is the understanding and control of matter at dimensions of roughly 1 to 100 nanometers, where unique phenomena enable novel applications.” Nanotechnology is unbelievably miniscule. It is so small that even the most powerful conventional microscopes cannot see it. To put things in perspective, if the world were scaled down so that people averaged 100 nanometers tall, the Moon would be about 8 inches (20.5 cm) across—about the size of a basketball or a soccer ball. The Earth would be roughly 30 inches (76 cm) in diameter, or just small enough to squeak through a doorway.•
So what?
The nanoscale is the scale of atoms and molecules, the fundamental building blocks of the material world. At the nanoscale, scientists can start affecting the properties of materials......
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