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A nanometer is one billionth of a meter, 20 times larger than a hydrogen atom. Electron microscopes can probe the 1-nanometer scale, with a resolution of 0.05 nanometers. Bacteria range from 300 to 5,000 nanometers, while viruses and other entities are smaller. Eukaryotic cells are about 5,000 to 100,000 nanometers in diameter. Nanoscience and nanotechnology seek to harness nano-level effects for the benefit of humanity.
A nanometer is quite small, one billionth of a meter. It is 20 times larger than the diameter of a hydrogen atom. In terms of the electromagnetic spectrum, 1 nanometer corresponds to the wavelength of soft X-rays. Hard X-rays and gamma rays have shorter wavelengths. The width of a double helix of DNA, the molecule that carries our genetic code, is about 2 nanometers.
Since the wavelength of light is 400-700 nanometers, science had no microscopes capable of probing the 1-nanometer scale until the invention and refinement of the electron microscope. Electron microscopes use electrons instead of photons (light) to take images. Today’s best electron microscopes have a resolution of just 0.05 nanometers, the diameter of a hydrogen atom.
To get the length of a nanometer in perspective, imagine you’ve been shrunk about 1.5 billion times, so your height becomes 1 nanometer. A human would be about 1.5 million km tall, from our new perspective. This is about 120 Earth diameters, or three times longer than the distance from Earth to the Moon.
Bacterial flagella are about 20 nanometers in diameter. Bacteria typically range in diameter from 300 to 5,000 nanometers. Members of the genus Mycoplasma, which lack a cell wall, are the smallest, about 300 nanometers wide.
Viruses and mobile genetic elements called prions and satellites are smaller than bacteria, ranging in diameter from 5 to 300 nanometers. Some of these entities are only a few base pairs long and all depend on conventional life forms for their replication.
Eukaryotic cells, or complex, like cells in our bodies, are about 10 times larger than bacteria, ranging in diameter from about 5,000 nanometers to 100,000 nanometers. In nanometer terms, these are pretty huge.
Nanoscale technology has initiated new areas of science and technology, called nanosciences and nanotechnology. These fields seek to harness nano-level effects for the benefit of humanity. So far, nanotechnology has been used in computers, cosmetics and textiles, but in the long run, it could be used in virtually every product imaginable.
