Atoms are everywhere!

communication

Hi I am new here. I am not really a science buff, i only just started reading about physics a week ago. I come from a media and fitness background, but I joined to ask a quick question that I thought someone here could best answer - I can see atoms in the air sometimes in light only and my eyes automatically follow them around. Anyway, sometimes i can no longer see through them properly. How do i start to "unsee" them again? thanks.

Ryan_m_b

Quote by communication

Hi I am new here. I am not really a science buff, i only just started reading about physics a week ago. I come from a media and fitness background, but I joined to ask a quick question that I thought someone here could best answer - I can see atoms in the air sometimes in light only and my eyes automatically follow them around. Anyway, sometimes i can no longer see through them properly. How do i start to "unsee" them again? thanks.

Welcome to PF communication! We cannot actually see atoms with our eyes, atoms are so small they are invisible. If we could see them we wouldn't be able to see as everything we look at would be one thick foggy wall of atoms!

What is it you are seeing when you "see" atoms? It could either be dust in the air illuminated by a light source or could be phenomenon like floaters in the eye.

communication

thank you sir. It must be floaters then if we cannot see them. They are so tiny. I always thought we could see atoms through a light microscope?

You are all so lucky, i wish i had a natural ability for science. I envy all of you.

Ryan_m_b

Quote by communication

thank you sir. It must be floaters then if we cannot see them. They are so tiny. I always thought we could see atoms through a light microscope?

You are all so lucky, i wish i had a natural ability for science. I envy all of you.

It is never to late to start learning science

individual atoms are too small to discern with a light microscope (that is one using visible light) as the resolution of such microscopes is on the order of ~100 nanometres. Atoms are around one thousand times smaller than this! However we can resolve atoms using microscopes that do not rely on photons; scanning tunnelling microscopy, atomic force microscopy and electron microscopy all have far greater resolution.

Drakkith

Quote by communication

thank you sir. It must be floaters then if we cannot see them. They are so tiny. I always thought we could see atoms through a light microscope?

You are all so lucky, i wish i had a natural ability for science. I envy all of you.

The only natural ability to learn science is wanting to know how things work. To get a grasp on the basics for most subjects in science doesn't even require a knowledge of math more than your average person knows. If you just want to learn how things work just to know and not to apply it to a career the math does almost no good anyways until you want to get into the nitty gritty details.

Math Is Hard

If they look like tiny squiggly lights, it could be blue field entoptic phenomenon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_fi...tic_phenomenon
I see these now and then.

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communication	thank you sir. It must be floaters then if we cannot see them. They are so tiny. I always thought we could see atoms through a light microscope? You are all so lucky, i wish i had a natural ability for science. I envy all of you.

Math Is Hard Blog Entries: 13 Recognitions: Gold Member Science Advisor Staff Emeritus	If they look like tiny squiggly lights, it could be blue field entoptic phenomenon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_fi...tic_phenomenon I see these now and then.