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How small is that?

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Published on November 14th, 2009, 5:38 pm
Rift: Sciences
  
We evolved to live in Middle Earth and so the very large and the very small are difficult to grapple with.

This site has a wonderful animation to help your mind comprehend the very small

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The smallest objects that the unaided human eye can see are about 0.1 mm long. That means that under the right conditions, you might be able to see an ameoba proteus, a human egg, and a paramecium without using magnification. A magnifying glass can help you to see them more clearly, but they will still look tiny.

Smaller cells are easily visible under a light microscope. It’s even possible to make out structures within the cell, such as the nucleus, mitochondria and chloroplasts. Light microscopes use a system of lenses to magnify an image. The power of a light microscope is limited by the wavelength of visible light, which is about 500 nm. The most powerful light microscopes can resolve bacteria but not viruses.

To see anything smaller than 500 nm, you will need an electron microscope. Electron microscopes shoot a high-voltage beam of electrons onto or through an object, which deflects and absorbs some of the electrons. Resolution is still limited by the wavelength of the electron beam, but this wavelength is much smaller than that of visible light. The most powerful electron microscopes can resolve molecules and even individual atoms.
November 14th, 2009, 5:38 pm   Share
 
This site attemps to to the same thing from the biggest thing (the Universe) to the smallest (neutron)
http://www.nikon.com/about/feelnikon/universcale/index_f.htm
It's not as effective but still worth a look
November 14th, 2009, 5:55 pm
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A Person
 
So the more massive the "beam" particles, the shorter the wavelength and the smaller the object that can be observed.

Makes you wonder what that squirrel accelerator could discover if you could resolve the diffraction? :twisted:
November 16th, 2009, 11:14 am
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SouthernFriedInfidel
 
Location: 5th circle of hell -- actually not very crowded at the moment.
To be pedantic, substitute 'resolved' for 'observed'. We can 'observe' things by their effects on other things even if they cannot be resolved.

Image
November 16th, 2009, 11:44 am
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A Person
 
I LOVE it when you get all pedantic on me! :wink:
November 16th, 2009, 12:19 pm
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SouthernFriedInfidel
 
Location: 5th circle of hell -- actually not very crowded at the moment.
I love teaching children

If only I'd got to Sarah

Lil-Angel-Sarah.jpg
November 16th, 2009, 12:27 pm
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A Person
 

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