INTRODUCTION TO NANOTECHNOLOGY-II : BRIEF ANSWERS

ANSWER IN BRIEF

*INDEX-TOPIC SEARCH

1. DEFINE: NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY IN THE MODERN CONTEXT.
   

   ANS:Nanoscience is the study of fundamental principles of molecules and other systems whose at least one of the dimensions lies between 1 nm and 100 nm range.
   
   Nanotechnology is the tool to harness the knowledge of nanoscience for creating new useful materials, devices, machines and systems with novel properties due to their small size. Nanotechnology is building structures, atom-by-atom or molecule-by-molecule, that will be helpful in manufacturing devices and systems.
   
   Nanoscience and nanotechnology will find the ways to make stronger materials,detect diseases in blood-stream, build tiny machines, generate light and enormous energy and purify water with the help of nanosize particles.
   

   
   
2. WHY IS NANOTECHNOLOGY A GENERAL-PURPOSE TECHNOLOGY ?
   

   ANS:Nanotechnology is a general purpose technology because in its mature form it will have significant impact on almost all industries and all areas of society. It offers better built, longer lasting, cleaner, safer and smarter products useful in domestic purposes, communication, medicines, transportation, agriculture and industry.
   

   
   
3. WHY IS CARBON A FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENT IN NANOTECHNOLOGY? EXPLAIN.
   

   ANS:Carbon is a fundamental element in nanotechnology due to the following properties.
   

   1. A carbon atom can bond with many different types of atoms by forming covalent bonds.
      
   2. Each carbon atom can form such covalent bonds with four other atoms at a time and thus form long chains of atoms.
      
   3. No other element except carbon can bond strongly to other carbon atoms in many different ways.
      

   
   

   
   


4. EXPLAIN HOW NANOTECHNOLOGY IS USED IN DIAGNOSTICS.
   

   ANS:Nanotechnology is useful in diagnostics in the following way:
   

   1. Better, cheaper and quicker diagnostic equipment will enable instant diagnosis and drug application.
      
   2. For example, floating contrast agents into bloodstream will allow detection of disease with accuracy and speed.
      
   3. Quick mapping of DNA for newly born babies will give information of potential problems likely to occur in future.This will enable us to curtail diseases at early stage of life.
      

   
   

   
   


5. WHICH FIELDS OF TECHNOLOGY WILL BE IMPORTANT IN FUTURE? or MENTION SOME IMPORTANT FUTURE TECHNOLOGIES THAT WILL BE IN FOREFRONT DURING 21ST CENTURY.
   

   ANS:The fields of technology that will be important in future are:
   

   1. Nanotechnology
      
   2. Biotechnology
      
   3. Information Technology
      
   4. X-Rays
      
   5. Teleportation
      
   6. LASERS
      
   7. Robotics
      

   
   



6. WHAT POSSIBILITIES WILL NANOTECHNOLOGY OFFER ?
   

   ANS:Nanotechnology will offer following possibilities such as :
   

   
   
   1. Cellular repair
   2. Artificial intelligence
   3. Inexpensive space travel
   4. Clean and abundant energy.
   5. Environmental restoration.
      

   
   

   
   
7. EXPLAIN THE INFLUENCE OF NANOTECHNOLOGY ON ENVIRONMENT.
   

   ANS:Nanotechnology will have great influence on environment.
   

   1. It would help repair past environmental damages and thus reform the environment.
      
   2. It can solve present environmental problems.
      
   3. It would prevent future environmental impacts.
      
   4. It would sustain the planet Earth for future generations.
      

   
   



8. DESCRIBE THE STRUCTURE AND CONFIGURATION OF A BUCKY BALL.
   

   ANS:
   
   
   A bucky ball is a molecule of 60 carbon atoms(C₆₀) in the architectural configuration of a soccer ball(sphere).Each carbon atom is bound to three adjacent carbon atoms forming a sphere of around 1.0 nm diameter.The bonds between atoms form a pattern of joined hexagons and pentagons similar to the panels on a soccer ball.
   



9. GIVE THE APPLICATIONS OF BUCKY BALLS AND CARBON NANOTUBES.
   

   ANS:The applications of bucky balls and carbon nanotubes(i.e.,nanotechnology) are:
   

   1. In electronics
   2. In food and agriculture
   3. In sports and toys
      
   4. In spintronics
   5. In photonics
   6. In display panels
   7. In space vehicles
      
   8. In the field of energy
   9. In medicine and diagnosis
   10. In consumer goods
       

   
   



10. "NANOTECHNOLOGY PLAYS BY DIFFERENT RULES." EXPLAIN THE STATEMENT.
    

    ANS:How matter behaves at nanoscale is the main aspect of nanotechnological research. The rules that govern large systems may not work at this scale. This is because nanomaterials have larger surface area-to-volume ratio.Therefore, phenomena like sticking and friction have much more dominance and importance at nanoscales as compared to large dimensions.Thus nanotechnology plays by different rules.
    



11. MENTION THE USE OF NANOTECHNOLOGY FOR RESOURCES LIKE ENERGY AND WATER.
    

    ANS:

    
    
    1. ENERGY : Nanocrystals will transform electricity into light without loss of energy due to heating. Solar cells and hydrogen fuel cells will become inexpensive and efficient. Cars will become more efficient as lighter and stronger engine blocks will save fuel.
       
    2. WATER :Efficient water purification with the help of nanotechnology will allow third-world countries to have access to clean water.
       

    
    

    
    
12. WHAT CAN WE EXPECT TO BE IMPROVED IN NEAR FUTURE DUE TO NANOTECHNOLOGY ?
    

    ANS:

    
    
    • Smaller and cost-effective accurate Global Positioning System(GPS)
    • Faster and smaller computers
    • Super hard materials with tunable melting temperatures
    • Cell phones with longer battery life
    • Quick and accurate DNA finger-printing
    • New and efficient medical diagnosis and delivery systems
    • Quick skin healing by sun screen creams having active nano-ingredients
    • Information routing at the speed of light.
      

    
    

    
    
13. WHAT CAN WE DO WITH THE HELP OF STUDY OF NANOSIZE PARTICLES, DEVICES AND COMPOSITES ?
    

    ANS:With the help of the study of nanosize particles, devices and composites we can develop stronger materials, detect diseases in blood streams, build tiny machines, generate light and enormous energy and purify water.
    

    
    
14. WRITE A NOTE ABOUT AFM AND STM.
    

    ANS: AFM(Atomic Force Microscope) and STM(Scanning Tunelling Microscope) are instruments used to see objects of size smaller than 10000 nm since the human eye has the limitation that it cannot see objects smaller than 10000 nm.
    Gern Binnig and Heinrich Rohre of IBM Research Lab invented STM in 1981.
    With the help of such instruments(machines) we can study atoms and manipulate them to develop new nanostructures.