The powers of 10
Examples from biological and mechanical realms illustrate various “orders of magnitude” (powers of 10), from 10−2 meter down to 10−7 meter.
nanotechnology
- Related Topics:
- nanomedicine
- grey goo
- nanowire
- nanowhisker
- nanofabrication
nanotechnology, the manipulation and manufacture of materials and devices on the scale of atoms or small groups of atoms. The “nanoscale” is typically measured in nanometres, or billionths of a metre (nanos, the Greek word for “dwarf,” being the source of the prefix), and materials built at this scale often exhibit distinctive physical and chemical properties due to quantum mechanical effects. Although usable devices this small may be decades away (see microelectromechanical system), techniques for working at the nanoscale have become essential to electronic engineering, and nanoengineered materials have begun to appear in consumer products. For example, billions of microscopic ...(100 of 7793 words)