Notre Dame extended Research Community

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NANOweek: Scale and Orders of Magnitude

Dr. Patrick MooneyDr. Karen DelleDonneNatalie Wasio, graduate student

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What do we mean by Scale?

A Few Small Mammals

Squirrel0.5kg

Cat7kg

8kg

Ferret2kg

Raccoon5kg

4kg0kg 6kg2kg

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What do we mean by Scale?A Few Whales

Killer6,000kg

Beluga1,000kg

10,000kg

Minke10,000kg

Pygmy Right3,000kg

5,000kg0kg 7,500kg2,500kg

Squirrel, Ferret, Raccoon, Cat (<10kg)

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How does this relate to Nano?

Different Lengths

Giraffe5m

8m

Tree8m

Human2m

4m0m 6m2m

Transistors, Molecules, Atoms, etc.

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Orders of Magnitude Powers of Ten

Billionths = 0.000 000 001 = 10-9 Nano Millionths = 0.000 001 = 10-6

Micro Thousandths = 0.001 = 10-3

Milli Hundredths= 0.01 = 10-2

Tenths = 0.1 = 10-1

Ones = 1 = 100

Tens = 10 = 101

Hundreds = 100 = 102

Thousands = 1,000 = 103 Kilo Millions = 1,000,000 = 106

Mega Billions = 1,000,000,000 = 109 Giga

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Exponent - 103

Billionths = Nano = 10-9

Millionths = Micro = 10-6

Thousandths = Milli = 10-3

Ones = Base Unit = 100

Thousands = Kilo = 103

Millions = Mega = 106

Billions = Giga = 109

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Prefixes with “Meter” – Steps of 1,000

Meter

Kilometer

Megameter

Millimeter

Micrometer

Nanometer

100

103

106

10-3

10-6

10-9

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Scale Exercise

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Fold/Cut Paper

How many times can you fold a piece of paper in half?

How many times can you cut a piece of paper in half?

What do these exercises illustrate?

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Scale Bar

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“Well Spaced” Objects for Game

Atom10-27

Cell10-15

Bee10-5

Elephant103

Skyscraper108

Mountain1015

Moon1022

Sun1030