3 ms·

Anyone frustrated with the lack of good representations of what an atom might actually look like might enjoy this video that attempts to do just that: https://

Anyone frustrated with the lack of good representations of what an atom might actually look like might enjoy this video that attempts to do just that: https://youtu.be/W2Xb2GFK2yc https://youtu.be/W2Xb2GFK2yc

amelius 3y ago
The question that frustrates me more is how they put the atom into the sample holder.
- gus_massa 3y ago
  Half guessing: They are not using a single atom. They have millions of millions of millions of atoms. Each atom is trapped with an organic molecule (there is an image near the bottom of the article). All the organic molecules are connected to a flat surface. They move down the tip of the tunnel microscope slowly until it's near the surface, and then they move it to the sides until the tip is near the one of the atoms they want to analyze. (It's probably slightly more complicated.) They use the x-ray to illuminate all the surface. The x-ray allow more/less tunneling, so the current in the tip changes. So they have millions of millions of millions of atoms, but the tip is only near one of them. They are only measuring that atom. All the other atoms are just ignored, because tunneling is a very short range effect.
mensetmanusman 3y ago
This is where the philosophy of science becomes more useful to know. Some people might get caught up in trying to understand what something looks like at these small scales. But then you recall that everything is actually invisible to humans at these scales, and we are trying to create representations of the truth that will always be just a grasp out of our hands, especially when we want to simplify it to a level of abstraction that our minds can comprehend.
- o0banky0o 3y ago
  This seems midly relevant, speaking of the visibility of things: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-way_speed_of_light https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-way_speed_of_light

amelius 3y ago

The question that frustrates me more is how they put the atom into the sample holder.

gus_massa 3y ago
Half guessing: They are not using a single atom. They have millions of millions of millions of atoms. Each atom is trapped with an organic molecule (there is an image near the bottom of the article). All the organic molecules are connected to a flat surface. They move down the tip of the tunnel microscope slowly until it's near the surface, and then they move it to the sides until the tip is near the one of the atoms they want to analyze. (It's probably slightly more complicated.) They use the x-ray to illuminate all the surface. The x-ray allow more/less tunneling, so the current in the tip changes. So they have millions of millions of millions of atoms, but the tip is only near one of them. They are only measuring that atom. All the other atoms are just ignored, because tunneling is a very short range effect.

mensetmanusman 3y ago

This is where the philosophy of science becomes more useful to know. Some people might get caught up in trying to understand what something looks like at these small scales. But then you recall that everything is actually invisible to humans at these scales, and we are trying to create representations of the truth that will always be just a grasp out of our hands, especially when we want to simplify it to a level of abstraction that our minds can comprehend.

o0banky0o 3y ago
This seems midly relevant, speaking of the visibility of things: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-way_speed_of_light https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-way_speed_of_light