Pictures of Atoms

Pretty sweet. It's a shame it is limited to solid states
 
I was shocked when I learned that while scientist have been taking pictures of atoms for years now, they've only recently been able to take pictures of molecules (a group of attached atoms, to make the distinction).

The problem is that electron microscopes bombard the molecules with electrons, disrupting and then breaking apart the weaker bonds between atoms, when taking their pictures. Now with newer microscope technology (something like an x-ray, from the article), we can take a picture of a whole molecule because we aren't breaking them apart.

Article: http://www.mizozo.com/tech/08/2009/30/first-picture-of-a-molecule-taken.html
 
hmm I'm not that in the know about pictures of atoms as we currently have pretty effective means of characterizing molecules without a photo. But a photo would be pretty sweet.
 
kavalan said:
hmm I'm not that in the know about pictures of atoms as we currently have pretty effective means of characterizing molecules without a photo. But a photo would be pretty sweet.
Click to expand...
The whole point was to prove that our diagrams were correct. Seeing is believing to many.
 
There's a high power (electron microscope maybe? but I'm not sure) microscope at my university. A couple of years ago I got the chance to be the lab and see the 'photos' on the monitor as they were doing research.

The sights were really boring to me and the readouts made no sense, but the idea of what I was seeing got me all giddy.
 
Photograph of Tungsten atoms.
th-harmonische.jpg


Unblurring image...
bakedbeans.png


So there we have it. Who would have thought that atoms were really just miniature baked beans.
 
Jasmine85 said:
Photograph of Tungsten atoms.
th-harmonische.jpg


Unblurring image...


So there we have it. Who would have thought that atoms were really just miniature baked beans.
Click to expand...


I thought it looked more like a gold grill.

no-mold-gold-teeth.jpg
 
I want moving pictures of chemical reactions at the molecular level - particularly of enzymes.
 
I'm not in the least bit interested in this sorta thing, but I applaud those who continue research into it.

I really fancy a tin of baked beans though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top