Billons to Billionths

Presenter: Carrie Persing6-12 Math Dept. Chair

MathScience Innovation Center

“Nanoscience and technology will change the nature of

almost every human-made object in the 21st Century.”

M.C. Roco, R.S. Williams, & P.Alvisatos, 1999

The NSF projects that 6 million workers will be needed in the

field of nanoscience and technology.www.nano.gov

What is a nanometer and why is size and scale important ?

• Nano = dwarf in Greek• It is one billionth of a meter (1 x 10-9)• Properties of materials change at the nano level a. melting point b. fluorescence c. conductivity d. chemical reactivity

Extremely Large vs. Extremely Small Numbers

How many grains of salt can fit in a gallon pitcher?

DESCRIBE A BILLION

• A million seconds is 12 daysA billion seconds is 31 years

• A million hours ago it was 1896A billion hours ago man did not

exist.

• One red blood cell can deliver one billion molecules of oxygen.

• There are about 6.2 billion people in the world.

How tall would a stack of a billion sheets of cardstock be?

ChallengeIf one story of a building is about 3

meters high how many stories would a billion sheets of card

stock be?

ChallengeWhat fraction 0f 66,667 stories would one sheet of paper be?

How many grains of salt can fit in a gallon jug?

1 Pinch =

1 Cup =

1 Jug =

1,000 grains

1,000,000 grains

16,000,000 grains

How big would a container have to be to

fit one billion grains?

Fox Elementary School is selling raffle tickets so you buy one ticket. The student tells you

that you now have a one in ten chance of winning a prize.

A glass is filled with 95 grams of water. If I wanted to make it a 5% sugar solution, how much sugar

must I add?

watergsugarg.95.5

How did I make this a 10% solution out of water and food

coloring?

partswaterloringpartfoodco

91

SCENTED SOLUTIONS

Cup 1 has a 10% solution or 1/10 solution

What would be the concentration be for Cup 2?

1/10 of 1/10 = 1/100

* 1 part per ten

1% solution or 1 part per hundred

Cup Color Scent Concen.1 blue strong 0.1

2 Light blue strong 0.01

3

4

5

6

7

8

A Nanometer is a billionth of a meter

Well how small is that exactly?

The earth’s continents drift at about 1 nanometer per second

The average fingernail grows about one nanometer per second

There are more nanometers in the palm of your hand than there are cars in the

United States.