IBM photographs atomic bonds

kupocake

kupocake

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500x_500_Pentacene_anatomy.jpg

Gizmodo said:
Like the venerable electron microscope, but more powerful and with an eye for the third dimension, the AFM is able to make the nano world something we humans can appreciate visually. Using a silicon microscale cantilever coated in carbon dioxide (tiny, tiny needle), lasers, an "ultrahigh vacuum" and temperatures that hovered around 5 Kelvin, the AFM imaged the pentacene in nanometers. It did this while sitting a mere 0.5 nanometers above the surface and its previously invisible bonds for 20 long, unmoving hours. The length of time is noteworthy, said IBM scientist Leo Goss in statement from IBM, because any movement whatsoever would have disrupted the delicate atomic bonds and ruined the image.
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Thought this was kind of interesting. Please prove me wrong with your cynicism.
 
kupocake said:
500x_500_Pentacene_anatomy.jpg
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500x_500_Pentacene_model.jpg

I think it makes more impact when you compare it to the models we've been studying all these years.

"This pioneering achievement and the new insights gained from the experiments extend the ability of scientists to study matter with atomic resolution and open up exciting new possibilities for exploring electronic building blocks and devices at the ultimate atomic and molecular scale-devices that might be vastly smaller, faster and more energy-efficient than today's processors and memory devices."
 
now tell me how, about 50 years ago, could they mathematically calculate how an atom really looks like (or molecule). i mean...where the **** do you start?
 
It looks like on of them eye tricks, you know those that move when you move your eyes.
 
jverne said:
now tell me how, about 50 years ago, could they mathematically calculate how an atom really looks like (or molecule). i mean...where the **** do you start?
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The way a blind person finds their way around a house without being able to see the hallways.
 
Really awesome. And the conditions to get the photograph...wow. Guess you need low temps and no ****in air to make that bitch stay still.
 
Uhh, whatever. Let me know when they actually get a non-fuzzy HD picture. Anyway, science is for nerds and geeks.
 
this is awesome, I bet we could go even smaller some day in history. but for now this is huge!
 
jverne said:
now tell me how, about 50 years ago, could they mathematically calculate how an atom really looks like (or molecule). i mean...where the **** do you start?
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Fundamental charge , electrostatic force , several refinements to the atomic model , packing factors etc. I believe it all started with observations of brownian motion which lead to the idea that matter is composed of smaller irreducible parts. It certainly wasn't done in a day or even in a few years , its on the span of decades and we're still refining these concepts.
 
You ever wanted to see a Molecule?

Science is ****ing awesome.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...n-times-smaller-grain-sand-pictured-time.html

article-1209726-063617DB000005DC-474_468x241.jpg

article-1209726-063792AB000005DC-428_468x286.jpg


Scientists from IBM used an atomic force microscope (AFM) to reveal the chemical bonds within a molecule.

'This is the first time that all the atoms in a molecule have been imaged,' lead researcher Leo Gross said.

The researchers focused on a single molecule of pentacene, which is commonly used in solar cells. The rectangular-shaped organic molecule is made up of 22 carbon atoms and 14 hydrogen atoms.

In the image above the hexagonal shapes of the five carbon rings are clear and even the positions of the hydrogen atoms around the carbon rings can be seen.
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That's so awesome.
 
someone posted this already. Cool nonetheless.
 
This makes me excite.
 
It's blury and has propably been done in photoshop for publicity.
 
Probably the most boring picture I've seen in a while.
 
wow

It will be even more awesome when you can get 3D pictures of molecules from force microscopes
 
decent thread is pretty decent, cool picture broseph
 
are the "bars" holding the atoms together made entirely of electrons? I never actually thought those 2d pictures were as close to the real thing.
 
The darker and lighter blurs are because of probability densities of the atoms and their electrons. Subatomic particles are not fixed in any one place, they are constantly moving within orbits - this is the reason for the "blury" picture, it's like taking a photo of a moving object with long shutter speed. The difference is one needs a long exposure time in order to get any useful image at all.

The "bars" between atoms aren't 'made of electrons' per se, they represent the orbits of the (two) electrons in the covalent bonds between the atoms.
 
The actual picture shows them as a bar-like structure though, how can they simply represent something but be visible?
 
The bar isn't a struture.
The bar represents the positions the atoms forming the covalent bonds occupy as they move from place to place.

Imagine a racing track with a red car speeding around it. At any one time it's only in one place. However if you take an arial photograph of the track with an exposure time of hours when you develop the photo you'll just see a great track-shaped red blur. The track-shaped red blur simply represents the route the red car took on its many circuits of the track - it is visible in this photograph and can be a useful way of analysing the car's behaviour but it is not an object.
The red car represents the electrons in the bond while the track represents the 'shape' of the bond - different types of covalent bonds can have different shapes.
 
ok, that makes sense...good analogy. when the world is mine your death will be quick and painless.
 
Glad you liked it. And I' sure you now understand why I facepalmed at Reflex complaining that it was blurry.

(It has to be gorramit, otherwise there would be nothing visible in the go tsao de picture!)
 
We should now be able to see Krynns wang with this technology.

OH OH !!!
 
Have my and cupocake's two threads on this been merged? I made a thread on this, come back, and my thread shows up as post #16 on another person's thread, and everyone acts as if it's brand new, like page 1 doesn't exist?
 
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