Name ______# ____
Science Hour ___
Advisor ______
Assignment Nanoscale PowerPoint
Date ______
1. Though nanoscience has been around for billions of years in nature, why are we just now beginning to discuss it?
Technology has advanced enough to make it possible to see and investigate it.
2. Using the link, http://www.gma.org/nano/whatisnano_011.html , from the slide entitled “And Smaller”, list three uses in medicine, battlefields, and outer space that are discussed in this website.
1.In medicine
2 In battlefields
3 In outer space
3. Describe your impressions at http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10 on the slide, Small is Small.
This is the site where the sizes start out in space and then go to femtoscopic.
5. Compare three of the macro vs nanoscale experiences in Duckboy in Nanoland.
- Brownian Bumpers -Fast random motion of molecules requires the use of ‘brakes’ to regulate the direction of force. This allows scientists to utilize the force of motion to achieve goals.
- Strange attractions addresses the electons’ attractive forces at the nanoscale. This is a powerful force and a challenge at this level. When an electric charge is applied to particles it can cause a repulsion to other particles.
- Stuck with the Duck is in water that acts like molasses, treacle at the nanoscale. Bacteria that need to move at this size, use corkscrew propellers to better facilitate motion.
- Funhouse incorportates the lack of gravity at the nanoscale. One must use other navigational devices. Bacteria use internal magnets to help them determine directions.
- Murky Mansion illustrates the need to use electron beam microscopes to see what we can’t see with the naked eye.
6. What did you observe at http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/virtual/virtual.html, the microscope site?
They might have looked at the cat flea or the dust mite or sugar or different drugs.
7. According to MiniMe what would be the problem if you grew to twice your height?
You would be 8 times your mass, your heart couldn’t pump enough blood for that mass, your bones couldn’t support the weight due to gravity.
(Since volume is length times width times height, you’ve doubled them all, not just your height. Thus your volume is now 2X2X2=8 times greater. Your weight and mass are also eight times greater!)
8 Why would it be a problem for a fly if he were twice his size? _There wouldn’t be enough surface area on his feet to hold that amount of mass on a wall9. Why does powdered sugar stick to your finger and granular sugar doesn’t?
Powdered sugar has a large surface area to small volume ratio. The vander Waals forces between your finger and the sugar is enough to hold the powdered sugar on your finger. Without that amount of surface area, it wouldn’t stick, gravity would pull it off.
Because the powdered one has more surface area and
less volume per grain, it sticks more easily. The adhesive force between the tiny grain and your finger is stronger than the force of gravity trying to pull the grain off of your finger. Powdered sugar has a large surface area to small volume ratio.
On the other hand, it is harder for a dry grain of sugar to stick to your fingers because it has more mass and less surface area than the powdered sugar. Gravity is more likely to pull it off of your finger.
10. Select one of the sites on the slide, What’s New in Nanoscience, and describe one of the news items. (Don’t just write the title of the article. Click on it and DESCRIBE what you understand about that news article.)
Have kids share what they’ve found.