Just How Small is an Atom?

Tieši cik mazs ir atoms? — Džonatans Bergmans

Translator: Kristaps Kadiķis Reviewer: Ilze Garda

You probably already know

Droši vien jau zini,

everything is made up of little tiny things called atoms

ka visu veido mazmazītiņas daļiņas — atomi.

or even that each atom is made up of even smaller particles

Varbūt pat zini, ka katru atomu veido vēl mazākas daļiņas

called protons, neutrons and electrons.

— protoni, neitroni un elektroni.

And you've probably heard that atoms are small.

Noteikti esi arī dzirdējis, ka atomi ir mazi.

But I bet you haven't ever thought about how small atoms really are.

Taču varu saderēt, nekad neesi aizdomājies cik mazi atomi ir patiesībā.

Well, the answer is that they are really, really small.

Atbilde ir — tie ir ļoti, ļoti, ļoti mazi.

So you ask, just how small are atoms?

Tieši cik mazi ir atomi, tu vaicā?

To understand this, let's ask this question:

Lai to saprastu, uzdosim šādu jautājumu —

How many atoms are in a grapefruit?

cik daudz atomu ir greipfrūtā?

Well, let's assume that the grapefruit is made up of only nitrogen atoms,

Pieņemsim, ka greipfrūtu veido tikai slāpekļa atomi,

which isn't at all true, but there are nitrogen atoms in a grapefruit.

kas nepavisam nav tiesa, tomēr greipfrūtā ir arī slāpekļa atomi.

To help you visualize this, let's blow up each of the atoms

Lai to iztēlotos, piepūtīsim katru no atomiem

to the size of a blueberry.

līdz mellenes izmēram.

And then how big would the grapefruit have to be?

Cik liels tad būtu greipfrūts?

It would have to be the same size of -- well, actually, the Earth.

Tas būtu tikpat liels kā... nu, īstenībā, Zeme.

That's crazy!

Trakums!

You mean to say that if I filled the Earth with blueberries,

Gribat teikt, ja es piepildītu Zemi ar mellenēm,

I would have the same number of nitrogen atoms as a grapefruit?

tajā būtu tikpat daudz slāpekļa atomu kā greipfrūtā?

That's right!

Tieši tā!

So how big is the atom?

Cik tad liels ir atoms?

Well, it's really, really small!

Tas ir ļoti, ļoti, ļoti, ļoti mazs.

And you know what? It gets even more crazy.

Un zini ko? Tālāk ir vēl trakāk.

Let's now look inside of each atom -- and thus the blueberry, right? --

Nu ieskatīsimies katrā no atomiem, proti, mellenē, ja?

What do you see there?

Ko tu tur redzi?

In the center of the atom is something called the nucleus,

Atoma vidū ir kas tāds, ko sauc par kodolu,

which contains protons and neutrons,

kurā ir protoni un neitroni,

and on the outside, you'd see electrons.

un ārpusē redzami elektroni.

So how big is the nucleus?

Cik tad liels ir kodols?

If atoms are like blueberries in the Earth,

Ja atomi ir kā mellenes zemeslodē,

how big would the nucleus be?

cik tad liels būtu kodols?

You might remember the old pictures of the atom from science class,

Varbūt atceries vecos atoma attēlus no dabaszinātņu stundām,

where you saw this tiny dot on the page with an arrow pointing to the nucleus.

kur uz lapas uzzīmēts sīciņš punktiņš ar bultiņu, kas norāda uz kodolu.

Well, those pictures, they're not drawn to scale,

Šos attēlus nezīmē pēc mēroga,

so they're kind of wrong.

tādēļ tie savā ziņā ir nepareizi.

So how big is the nucleus?

Cik tad liels ir kodols?

So if you popped open the blueberry and were searching for the nucleus ...

Ja melleni pārkostu un meklētu kodolu...

You know what? It would be invisible.

Zini ko? Tas nebūtu redzams.

It's too small to see!

Tas būtu par mazu, lai saskatītu!

OK. Let's blow up the atom -- the blueberry --

Labi. Piepūtīsim atomu, t.i., melleni,

to the size of a house.

līdz mājas izmēram.

So imagine a ball that is as tall as a two-story house.

Iedomāsimies bumbu, kas ir divstāvu mājas augstumā.

Let's look for the nucleus in the center of the atom.

Pameklēsim tagad atoma centrā kodolu.

And do you know what? It would just barely be visible.

Zini, ko? Tas būtu tik tikko saskatāms.

So to get our minds wrapped around how big the nucleus is,

Lai aptvertu, cik liels ir kodols,

we need to blow up the blueberry, up to the size of a football stadium.

mums jāpiepūš mellene līdz futbola stadiona izmēram.

So imagine a ball the size of a football stadium,

Iedomāsimies bumbu futbola stadiona izmērā,

and right smack dab in the center of the atom,

un pašā atoma viducī varētu atrast kodolu.

you would find the nucleus, and you could see it!

To jau varētu saskatīt!

And it would be the size of a small marble.

Tas būtu mazas lodītes lielumā.

And there's more, if I haven't blown your mind by now.

Tas vēl nav viss, ja jau neesmu samežģījis tavas smadzenes.

Let's consider the atom some more.

Parunāsim vēl mazliet par atomu.

It contains protons, neutrons and electrons.

Tajā ir protoni, neitroni un elektroni.

The protons and neutrons live inside of the nucleus,

Protoni un neitroni dzīvo iekšā kodolā

and contain almost all of the mass of the atom.

un veido gandrīz visu atoma masu.

Way on the edge are the electrons.

Pašā, pašā malā atrodas elektroni.

So if an atom is like a ball the size of a football stadium,

Ja atoms ir kā bumba futbola stadiona izmērā

with the nucleus in the center, and the electrons on the edge,

ar kodolu tās centrā un elektroniem malās,

what is in between the nucleus and the electrons?

kas atrodas starp kodolu un elektroniem?

Surprisingly, the answer is empty space.

Pārsteidzošā kārtā — tukša telpa.

(Wind noise)

(Vēja skaņa)

That's right. Empty!

Tieši tā. Tukšums!

Between the nucleus and the electrons, there are vast regions of empty space.

Starp kodolu un elektroniem ir milzīgi tukšas telpas plašumi.

Now, technically there are some electromagnetic fields,

Teorētiski tur ir elektromagnētiskie lauki,

but in terms of stuff, matter, it is empty.

taču vielas un matērijas ziņā tā ir tukša.

Remember this vast region of empty space is inside the blueberry,

Atcerēsimies, ka šie milzīgie tukšās telpas plašumi

which is inside the Earth,

ir iekšā mellenē, kas ir iekšā zemeslodē,

which really are the atoms in the grapefruit.

kas patiesībā apzīmē atomus greipfrūtā.

OK, one more thing, if I can even get more bizarre.

Vēl kas, lai padarītu lietas vēl dīvainākas.

Since virtually all the mass of an atom is in the nucleus --

Tā kā teju visa atoma masa ir tā kodolā,

now, there is some amount of mass in the electrons,

— nedaudz masas ir arī elektronos,

but most of it is in the nucleus --

tomēr lielākā daļa no tās ir kodolā —

how dense is the nucleus?

cik tad blīvs ir kodols?

Well, the answer is crazy.

Atbilde ir neaptverama.

The density of a typical nucleus

Tipiska kodola blīvums

is four times 10 to the 17th kilograms per meter cubed.

ir četri reiz desmit 17. pakāpē kilogrami uz kubikmetru.

But that's hard to visualize. OK, I'll put it in English units.

To ir grūti iztēloties. Pārvērtīšu to angļu mērvienībās.

2.5 times 10 to the 16th pounds per cubic feet.

2,5 reiz desmit 16. pakāpē mārciņu uz kubikpēdu.

OK, that's still kind of hard to figure.

To ir joprojām pagrūti saprast.

OK, here's what I want you to do.

Labi, darīsim tā —

Make a box that is one foot by one foot by one foot.

izveidojiet aptuveni 30 reiz 30 centimetru lielu kasti.

Now let's go and grab all of the nuclei from a typical car.

Tad paņemsim visus atomu kodolus no tipiskas automašīnas.

Now, cars on average weigh two tons.

Mašīnas sver vidēji divas tonnas.

How many cars' nuclei would you have to put into the box

Cik daudz mašīnu kodolu būtu jāieliek kastē,

to have your one-foot-box have the same density of the nucleus?

lai mūsu 30x30 cm kastei būtu tāds pats blīvums kā atoma kodolam?

Is it one car? Two?

Viena mašīna? Divas?

How about 100?

Varbūt 100?

Nope, nope and nope.

Nē, nē un nē.

The answer is much bigger.

Atbilde ir daudz lielāka.

It is 6.2 billion.

Tie ir 6,2 miljardi.

That is almost equal to the number of people in the Earth.

Tas ir gandrīz tikpat, cik uz Zemes ir iedzīvotāju.

So if everyone in the Earth owned their own car --

Ja visiem uz Zemes būtu sava automašīna,

and they don't --

— visiem gan nav —

(Cars honking)

(Taurējošas mašīnas)

and we put all of those cars into your box ...

un mēs visas šīs mašīnas ieliktu tavā kastē...

That would be about the density of a nucleus.

Tā būtu apmēram kodola blīvumā.

So I'm saying that if you took every car in the world

Tas nozīmē, ja mēs paņemtu visas pasaules mašīnas

and put it into your one-foot box,

un ieliktu savā 30x30 cm kastē,

you would have the density of one nucleus.

mēs iegūtu viena kodola blīvumu.

OK, let's review.

Labi, atkārtosim.

The atom is really,

Atomi ir ļoti,

really, really small.

ļoti, ļoti mazi.

Think atoms in a grapefruit like blueberries in the Earth.

Iedomājieties atomus greipfrūtā kā mellenes zemeslodē.

The nucleus is crazy small.

Kodols ir trakoti mazs.

Now look inside the blueberry,

Apskatot melleni,

and blow it up to the size of a football stadium,

un uzpūšot to līdz futbola stadiona izmēriem,

and now the nucleus is a marble in the middle.

kodols būtu vidū esoša lodīte.

The atom is made up of vast regions of empty space.

Atomu veido milzīgi tukšas telpas plašumi.

That's weird.

Dīvaini gan.

The nucleus has a crazy-high density.

Kodolam ir trakoti liels blīvums.

Think of putting all those cars in your one-foot box.

Atceries par visām tām mašīnām 30x30 cm kastē.

I think I'm tired.

Es laikam esmu piekusis.