Nanotechnology: Matter on a Small Scale

Nanotechnology involves the studying and working with matter on an extremely small scale. We can categorize one nanometer as one-billionth of a meter (10-9 m) .This is approximately ten times the size of an individual atom or ten hydrogen atoms laid side to side in a single nanometer. Despite its excessively small size, this technology stretches across all diverse branches of science and technology like biology, physics, chemistry, engineering, and materials science. The vast spread of this technology has allowed us in the creation of useful materials, devices, and systems which have started a scientific and technical revolution that are already starting to implement in our daily lives, science and objects used every day. Today nanotechnology is not just a new field of science and engineering, but a new way of looking at matter and studying it.

As mentioned before nanotechnology is used in a wide range of science and technology to improve our lives and make them more efficient. We can see an evident example of the preceding statement in some consumer goods that we use like sunscreens, self-cleaning windows, stain repellent fabrics and bouncy tennis balls. These all have been designed to help us in some way or the other regardless may it be in health or leisure, but the main point here is that all of these are created with the help of nanotechnology to give them the use that they have. For example the tennis ball is covered by a molecular wall consisting of tiny particles that help trap air molecules, thus making the ball extra bouncy. Apart from good that we consume nanotechnology is also being researched in the medical fields where researchers are emerging custom molecular sized nanoparticles that can deliver drugs directly to ...

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