Jon Bergmann: Just how small is an atom?
گەردیلەیەک چەند بچوکە؟
Jon Bergmann co-wrote the book on the "flipped classroom" -- using video to help students master new ideas outside the traditional class setting. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
of little tiny things called atoms
is made up of even smaller particles
that atoms are small.
about how small atoms really are.
that they are really, really small.
let's ask this question:
is made up of only nitrogen atoms,
are nitrogen atoms in a grapefruit.
let's blow up each of the atoms
would the grapefruit have to be?
-- well, actually, the Earth.
the Earth with blueberries,
of nitrogen atoms as a grapefruit?
It gets even more crazy.
-- and thus the blueberry, right? --
is something called the nucleus,
in the Earth,
of the atom from science class,
with an arrow pointing to the nucleus.
they're not drawn to scale,
and were searching for the nucleus ...
the blueberry --
as a two-story house.
in the center of the atom.
It would just barely be visible.
around how big the nucleus is,
up to the size of a football stadium.
of a football stadium,
in the center of the atom,
and you could see it!
of a small marble.
blown your mind by now.
neutrons and electrons.
live inside of the nucleus,
all of the mass of the atom.
the size of a football stadium,
and the electrons on the edge,
and the electrons?
there are vast regions of empty space.
some electromagnetic fields,
matter, it is empty.
is inside the blueberry,
in the grapefruit.
if I can even get more bizarre.
of an atom is in the nucleus --
of mass in the electrons,
kilograms per meter cubed.
OK, I'll put it in English units.
per cubic feet.
by one foot by one foot.
all of the nuclei from a typical car.
have to put into the box
the same density of the nucleus?
of people in the Earth.
owned their own car --
cars into your box ...
the density of a nucleus.
every car in the world
like blueberries in the Earth.
of a football stadium,
is a marble in the middle.
of vast regions of empty space.
in your one-foot box.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jon Bergmann - EducatorJon Bergmann co-wrote the book on the "flipped classroom" -- using video to help students master new ideas outside the traditional class setting.
Why you should listen
Jon Bergmann is considered one of the pioneers in the Flipped Class Movement -- in fact, he co-wrote the book on the Flipped Classroom, available from ISTE Press in June 2012. Bergmann believes educators should ask one guiding question: What is best for my students in my classroom? To the best of his abilities he has done this in his two-plus decades as a high school science teacher. He received the Presidential Award for Excellence for Math and Science Teaching in 2002 and was named Semi-Finalist for Colorado Teacher of the Year in 2010. He blogs at flipped-learning.com.
He is the Lead Technology Facilitator for the Joseph Sears School in Kenilworth, Illinois.
Read about the making of "How Small Is an Atom?" >>
Jon Bergmann | Speaker | TED.com