Scientists seek out the smallest things, as PHYSICISTS PULVERISE THE ATOM
Science Illustrated is made of sugar
Cellulose fibres are 1-3mm long
1 The paper on which Science Illustrated is printed consists primarily of cellulose fibres from wood. The fibres are 1-3mm long and typically have a diameter of 10 millionths of a metre.
Hydrogen holds the cellulose chains together
2 Cellulose is a sugary substance that consists of long chains of up to 10,000 glucose molecules. The chains are linked into fibres by hydrogen bindings.
One glucose molecule measures 1/1,000,000,000 metre
3 A glucose molecule is made up of six carbon atoms, 12 hydrogen atoms, and six oxygen atoms. Each glucose molecule stretches one billionth of a metre, or one nanometre.
No matter how hard you tread on the concrete slabs of the pavement, you won’t pass through to the other side – even though the atoms that form the concrete consist almost entirely of emptiness. Indeed one of the most amazing realisations in the past 100 years of atom research is that even the emptiness of space between the galaxies of the universe pales in comparison with the emptiness of atoms.
All atoms have
