The world’s most sensitive scales can now detect a cluster of xenon atoms a billion, trillion times lighter than a gram. A zeptogram (10-21)g) is roughly the mass of a single protein molecule and its detection has set a new record.
The feat opens up the prospect of future devices that could identify single molecules by weight, providing a sensor of extreme sensitivity that would be valuable in medical and environmental testing.
The key to the scales is a small blade that vibrates in a magnetic field, generating a voltage in an attached wire. When atoms or molecules are placed on its surface, they weigh it down, lower the vibration frequency and change the voltage.
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
World’s most sensitive scales weigh a zeptogram
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment