A needle point, we may be able to observe by naked eye. The bacterium is comparable to the needle point. It can be observed clearly using microscope. It"s size ranges from 0.5-5*10^-6 m (micrometer). There are good and bad bacteria. The diseases caused by bad bacteria can mostly be treated with the antibiotics. Also, the bacteria can be filtered out by 'reverse osmosis' etc,.
Next we have virus in the size of 20 to 400 nano meters( 10^-9 m). They are the smallest life on the planet. There are no good viruses. They cause common cold to AIDS. Their symptoms can only be treated. The body should have good immunity to survive.
Bacteria and viruses are made up of cells which in turn made up of molecules and atoms. The molecules are in the order of nano meter. So the nanotechnology means technology based on molecules.
One water molecule is made up of one hydrogen atom and two oxygen atom. Size of the atom is around 10^-10 m . Hydrogen atoms are the most abundant in the universe. They are also the simplest atoms just containing one proton and one electron. The size of the proton is about 10^-15 m.
Next, down the line; We come to electron which is the smallest thing we can play with. The radius of the electron is estimated to be 3*10^-15 m. The size of subatomic particles are not sharp. They are "fuzzy and wavy" according to physics.
Next the neutrino. This particles strike the earth continuously from the cosmos. They are the lightest. Their mass is less than one millionth that of electron. Since they are unimaginably small, they pass easily through all the materials including our body.
What is the smallest length we can measure? It is Planck's length or Planck's constant which is 1.6*10^-35 m. Below this classical physics breaks down. No instrument ever can be built to measure the length smaller than Planck's constant.
Planck's time is the time taken by the light photon to travel the Planck's length. It is 10^-43 second. It is the smallest interval of time we ever able to measure.
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