Pam and Cris in Atomland
To visit atomland, Pam and Cris must shrink by a factor of 1010 (10 magnitudes). This
reduction is performed in four stages:
(1) from normal to a millimeter (10-3 meter);
(2) next to a micrometer (10-6 meter;.
(3) next, to a nanometer (10-9 meter);
(4) finally, to an Angstrom (10-10 meter).
Here are the objects they see along the way:
100 meter = 1 meter
stool
-1
10 meter = 0.1 meter
hand
10-2 meter = 1 centimeter (cm)
fingernail; sugar cube; bee
-3
10 meter = 1 millimeter (mm)
flea
10-4 meter = 100 μm
hair follicle
-5
10 meter = 10 μm
animal cell
10-6 meter = 1 micrometer (μm)
bacterium; wavelength of light
-7
10 meter = 100 nm
virus
10-8 meter = 10 nm
large protein molecule
10-9 meter = 1 nanometer (nm)
moderately-sized molecule
-10
10 meter = 1 Angstrom (Å)
atom
If Pam and Cris were to shrink further, they could inspect the nucleus,
which is about 10-14 meter in size (0.1 picometer).
Volumes:
A cubic centimeter (sugar cube) is defined as a milliliter (mL, or ml)..
1000 milliliters = 1 liter, which is the volume contained in a cube 10 cm on a side.
Masses:
1 mL of water has the mass of 1 gram (g).
Macro units:
kilo = 103 = 1000 = k
mega = 106 = 1,000,000 = M
giga = 109 = 1,000,000 = G
For example,
km = 1000 m
Mbyte = 106 Bytes (used in computers)
Gbyte = 109 Bytes (used in computers)