1. Scale and Orders of Magnitude
Michael Crocker
Valerie Goss
Rebecca Quardokus

2. What do we mean by Scale? A Few Small Mammals Squirrel 0.5kg Ferret
Raccoon
5kg
Cat
7kg
4kg
0kg
2kg
6kg
8kg 2

3. What do we mean by Scale? A Few Whales Beluga Pygmy Right Minke Killer
1,000kg
Pygmy Right
3,000kg
Killer
6,000kg
Minke
10,000kg
0kg
Squirrel, Ferret, Raccoon, Cat (<10kg)
2,500kg
5,000kg
7,500kg
10,000kg 3

4. How does this related to Nano?
Different Lengths
Human 2m
Giraffe 5m
Tree 8m
Transistors, Molecules, Atoms, etc. 2m 4m 8m 0m 6m

5. Orders of Magnitude Powers of Ten
Billionths = = Nano
Millionths = = Micro
Thousandths = = Milli
Hundredths = = 10-2
Tenths = = 10-1
Ones = 1 = 100
Tens = 10 = 101
Hundreds = = 102
Thousands = 1,000 = 103 Kilo
Millions = 1,000,000 = 106 Mega
Billions = 1,000,000,000 = 109 Giga 5

6. 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 6

7. Prefixes with “Meter” – Steps of 1,000
100
Millimeter
10-3
Kilometer
103
Micrometer
10-6
Megameter
Nanometer
106
10-9

8. Brick vs. Egyptian Pyramid
Scale Calculations
1. Let’s first look at common items that can be measured on about the same scale
Then let’s look at well known items that are not on the same scale
Finally, let’s look at nanostructures that are definitely not on the same scale as our day-to-day experiences
Brick vs. Human
Brick vs. Egyptian Pyramid
Brick vs. Nanomagnet

9. Brick Volume: 50mm * 100mm * 200mm 1,000,000 mm3 10-3 m3 Mass: 2 kg

10. Human
~30cm
Volume: 2000mm * 300mm * 200mm 100,000,000 mm m3 Mass: 100 kg
~2m
~20cm

11. Compare – Human to Brick
100kg 10-1 m3
2kg 10-3 m3
vs.
50 times the mass
100 times the volume
½ the density

12. Egyptian Pyramid
5 billion kg (5*109), 2.5 million m3 (2.5*106)

13. Compare – Brick to Pyramid
5*109 kg, 2.5*106 m3
2 kg, m3
vs.
2.5*109 times the mass
2.5*109 times the volume
About the same the density

14. Transistors - Micrometers Nanomagnets - Nanometers
Nano-Electronics
Transistors - Micrometers
Nanomagnets - Nanometers

15. Nano-Electronics Zoomed In
Transistors - Micrometers
Nanomagnets - Nanometers

16. Compare – Nanomagnet to Brick
1.4*10-18 kg, 1.6*10-22 m3
2 kg, 10-3 m3
vs.
1.43*1018 times the mass
6.25*1018 times the volume
About ¼ the density

17. Nanomagnets Across a Brick

18. Time for a Game!

19. 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?

20. Scale Bar

21. “Well Spaced” Objects for Game
Elephant
103
Atom
10-27
Cell
10-15
Bee
10-5
Skyscraper
108
Mountain
1015
Moon
1022
Sun
1030