Bringing Nanoscience and Nanotechnology to Otterbein College

A three-dimensional view of the surface of graphite

Nanoscience and nanotechnology concern the manipulation of materials 100 nm or smaller in size – that is 1000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. The U.S. Federal Government is currently investing more than one billion dollars a year in nanotechnology research and development. The world nanotechnology market is predicted to exceed one trillion dollars by the year 2010!

The principles of physics, as far as I can see, do not speak against the possibility of maneuvering things atom by atom. It is not an attempt to violate any laws; it is something, in principle, that can be done; but in practice, it has not been done because we are too big.
Richard Feynman, "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom" (Talk given on December 29th, 1959)

This NSF-sponsored project is bringing aspects of nanoscience and nanotechnology into the science curriculum at Otterbein College. Project activities include a workshop for high school science teachers, new laboratory activites using scanning tunneling microscopes, and joint Chemistry/Physics advanced laboratory exercises.