Nov 11 2004
A Sense Of Scale
Scale model of the solar system:
One of the most amazing things about our solar system is the sheer scale of it. In fact it is so big that it is very difficult for us to comprehend it at all. This page is designed to try to give you some idea of just how much empty space there is out there by representing the solar system with a scale model. 1 pixel represents approximately 2000 kilometres…
Nova’s A Sense of Scale Flash application that illustrates size differences is excellent:
The strings of string theory are unimaginably small. And when we say “unimaginably,” we mean it: Your average string, if it exists, is about 10-33 centimeters long. That’s a point followed by 32 zeros and then a 1. It’s a millionth of a billionth of a billionth of a billionth of a centimeter. (Physicists stick to metric.) Or think of it this way: if an atom were magnified to the size of the solar system, a string would be the size of a tree. Yup, real small.
Thinking about that too long makes me dizzy.
