atomic scale
Smallest measurable realm
Atomic scale describes dimensions at the level of atoms—roughly a tenth of a nanometer.
At this scale, quantum mechanics governs behavior, and individual atoms and molecules become the relevant units: At the atomic scale, materials behave very differently than in bulk.
The term distinguishes phenomena too small for conventional measurement from larger nanoscale or microscale observations.
- angstromSubatomic length unit
- nanometerMetric unit, billion-fold smaller
- Heisenberg uncertainty principleFundamental quantum measurement limit
- femtometer10⁻¹⁵ meters
- nanotechnologyAtomic-scale manipulation science
electron cloud · nanoscale · quantum mechanics · molecular structure · materials science · Schrödinger equation · quantum leap · microscopic · neutron · electron microscopy · particle · valence · chemical bond · Planck · picometer · wavelength · quark · uncertainty
- Length Unitsinch, foot, feet, yard, mile
- scalesweight, measure, balance, precision scales, beam balance
- metric prefixeskilo, mega, giga, peta, milli
- Atomic Massmolar mass, molecular mass, molecular weight, mass number, weighted average
- probe microscopySTM, cantilever, feedback loop, feedback control, topography
atomic scalecosmic scale
Universe-sized frame of reference
macroscopic · human scale · large scale · industrial scale · life-size
scale, atom, atomic, atomizer, atomize, subatomic, atomized, atomizing, atomically