Nanotechnology Quiz

(20 questions to test your nano-IQ)

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Here are the answers:

Question 1: The prefix "nano" comes from a ...

You didn't select an answer. The answer is: Greek word meaning dwarf.

Question 2: Who first used the term nanotechnology and when?

You didn't select an answer. The answer is: Norio Taniguchi, 1974. He coined the term nanotechnology to describe semiconductor processes such as thin film deposition and ion beam milling exhibiting characteristic control on the order of a nanometer: Nanotechnology mainly consists of the processing of separation, consolidation, and deformation of materials by one atom or one molecule.

Question 3: What is a buckyball?

You didn't select an answer. The answer is: A carbon molecule (C60). Buckyballs are also called Fullerenes. Discovered in 1985, they are a family of carbon allotropes named after the architect Richard Buckminster Fuller because they resemble the form of his geodesic domes

Question 4: Which of these historical works of art contain nanotechnology?

You didn't select an answer. The answer is: All of the above. The Lycurgus Cup contains nanoparticles which are the reason for its optical properties (see Plasmonics and optical tweezers - nanotechnology that manipulates with light); medieval church windows contained nanoparticles that gave them their red properties; and Damascus steel swords contained carbon nanotubes (see Military nanotechnology (take 2): the secret of superior weaponry hundreds of years ago)

Question 5: What is depicted in this famous image?

You didn't select an answer. The answer is: Scanning Tunneling Microscope image of electrons surrounded by iron atoms. Read more: IBM's atomic corrals show nanotechnology at its finest

Question 6: Richard Feynman is often credited with predicting the potential of nanotechnology. What was the title of his famous speech given on December 29, 1959?

You didn't select an answer. The answer is: There is plenty of room at the bottom. Read his speech here and read more about Feynman here: Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman!

Question 7: How many oxygen atoms lined up in a row would fit in a one nanometer space?

You didn't select an answer. The answer is: Seven. The diameter of one oxygen atom is approximately 0.14 nanometers

Question 8: Which one of these statements is NOT true?

You didn't select an answer. The answer is: Silicon at the nanoscale is an insulator.

Question 9: Which of these consumer products is already being made using nanotechnology methods?

You didn't select an answer. The answer is: All of the above.

Question 10: If you were to shrink yourself down until you were only a nanometer tall, how thick would a sheet of paper appear to you?

You didn't select an answer. The answer is: 170 kilometers. An average sheet of paper is approx. 0.1 mm thick; in other words: 100,000 nanometers. Let's assume the average height of a person to be 1.7 meters. If this person is shrunk to be only 1 nanometer tall, the thickness of a sheet of paper would be 100,000 times taller and therefore appear to be 170 km thick.

Question 11: What is graphene?

You didn't select an answer. The answer is: A one-atom thick sheet of carbon. We have compiled a comprehensive graphene overview including a nice infographic.

Question 12: Which of these well-known phrases from Star Trek depends on the (fictional) use of nanotechnology?

You didn't select an answer. The answer is: All of the above. Ok, Trekkie time: The transporter uses molecular disassembly and re-assembly technology; Captain Picard orders his tea from the ship's replicator, which is a molecular assembly device; and finally, the Borg inject nanobots into their victims to have their cellular structure modified. Don't wait around for any of these technologies to appear anytime soon...

Question 13: What is grey goo?

You didn't select an answer. The answer is: A hypothetical substance composed of out-of-control self-replicating nanobots that consumes all living matter on Earth.

Question 14: Which one of these condiments is unique due to the nanoscale interactions between its ingredients?

You didn't select an answer. The answer is: Mayonnaise. Mayonnaise was whipped up by the chef of the Duc de Richelieu in 1756, to celebrate the Duc's victory over the British at the port of Mahon. What makes mayonnaise taste great is the nanostructure of its lipids and proteins. They are combined into an emulsion as little droplets that are only a few hundred nanometers in size. So mayonnaise does not taste like eggs, oil or water. It is the interaction of the droplets' nanostructure, achieved through whipping and heating, that contributes to the taste and texture that makes mayonnaise unique

Question 15: Nanorobots (nanobots)...

You didn't select an answer. The answer is: Do not exist yet. Read more here about the state of nanorobotics.

Question 16: What has been the cumulative budget for the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative since its inception in 2001?

You didn't select an answer. The answer is: $29 billion. Since 2001, the NNI's cumulative budget has been nearly $29 billion. The NNI's 2020 budget figures can be found here.

Question 17: Plasmonics is...

You didn't select an answer. The answer is: A field of nanophotonics that holds the promise of molecular-size optical device technology. One of the sizzling hot topics within nanophotonics is nanoplasmonics, which holds the promise of a class of subwavelength-scale optoelectronic components that could form the building blocks of a chip-based optical device technology that is scaleable to molecular dimensions.

Question 18: Optical tweezers...

You didn't select an answer. The answer is: Use light to manipulate particles as small as a single atom.

Question 19: A silver coin with a diameter of 4 cm (such as the U.S. silver dollar) contains 26.96 grams of coin silver and has a surface area of about 27.7 square cm. If the same 26.96 grams of coin silver were divided into particles 1 nanometer in diameter, what would their combined surface area be?

You didn't select an answer. The answer is: 11,400 square meters. When the amount of coin silver contained in a silver dollar is rendered into 1 nm particles, the surface area of those particles is 4.225 million times greater than the surface area of the silver dollar. This vastly increased surface area is one reason why nanoparticles have such high catalytic properties.

Question 20: And what exactly is a quantum dot?

You didn't select an answer. The answer is: A semiconductor nanostructure that confines the motion of conduction band electrons, valence band holes, or excitons in all three spatial directions.. Read our primer here on quantum dots.