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'Clumps' of Particles

Solid and liquid matter often ‘clump’ together into small particles. Different sized ‘clumps’ have different names. The size of these clumps are typically measured in nanometres (1nm = 1x10−9m).

Sizes of particles

Sizes of particles

  • Nanoparticles are 1 - 100 nm long (10 - 1,000 atoms).
  • Fine particles are 100 - 2,500 nm long (1,000 - 25,000 atoms).
  • Coarse particles (dust) are 2,500 - 10,000 nm long (25,000 - 100,000 atoms).
Disadvantage of nanoparticles

Disadvantage of nanoparticles

  • Nanoscience is still a very new area of research so there are still possible disadvantages of nanoparticles that we do not know about.
    • E.g. We don't know the long-term effect of them on the environment or on human health!
Properties of nanoparticles

Properties of nanoparticles

  • Nanoparticles have special properties because of their high surface area to volume ratio.
    • This allows for smaller quantities of them to be used for a desired purpose compared to using normal sized particles which means that they are cheaper and more efficient to use.
Changing materials' properties

Changing materials' properties

  • Using nanoparticles can also change the properties of the material completely.
    • E.g. ‘Normal’ gold particles are extremely unreactive, but gold nanoparticles can be very efficient catalysts for many processes.
Jump to other topics
1

Atomic Structure

2

Chemical Bonding

3

Quantitative Chemistry

4

Chemical Changes

5

Energy Changes

6

The Rate & Extent of Chemical Change

7

Organic Chemistry

8

Chemical Analysis

9

Chemistry of the Atmosphere

10

Using Resources

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