How Small Is A Proton, Really?

You already know that atoms and the particles inside them are tiny. But they are SO MUCH SMALLER than most people think...

Look at a single strand of your hair. Now imagine that hair is as big across as the entire EARTH is wide. The size of a single cell inside your hair would be like the distance from Paris to Rome. A protein inside that cell would be like 6 soccer fields across. An atom inside that protein would be like one school bus across. The nucleus at the center of that atom would be like the width of a grain of rice. And the protons within that nucleus? They’d be like grains of salt.

So, a proton compared to the WIDTH OF YOUR HAIR is like a grain of salt compared to the ENTIRE EARTH.

And protons are what scientists are send flying around at nearly the speed of light to smash into each other inside particle colliders… like the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. It’s incredible we can do this. As humans, we only experience a tiny slice of the full scale of reality. But there is so much more!

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#shorts #science #tech #stem #animation #cern #physics

[malachitestorm]

People often say something in the lines of "oh, we're so little and insignificant compared to stars and galaxies", but sometimes they should remember that we're also huge compared to atoms lol

[toanly]

They need visualizations like this in schools. Might help visual learner kids understand better.

[SerafinAyala-gkyu]

This is the craziest size comparison in my life!

[APerson-]

imagine that our entire universe is just one subatomic particle to a higher life

[kryptoniridium]

This is the only time "American standard measurement system" explained something so clearly to me.

[KANDD]

Ah, the typical American measure of soccer fields and school bus

[blazer]

Now let's see Paul Allen's atom size

[johnlarson]

Nice video. People have a very difficult time understanding the true scale of things. This did a really good job in helping conceptualize the size of a proton.

[viduraherath]

For the americans, thats about bald eagle wingspans

[TheDramacist]

I find the gaps between neutrons and electrons more intriguing

[ShaharHarshuv]

Most people also don't realize how big the earth is. It took me moving across the atlantic to start realizing it.

[curiouscollective]

I love these comparisons, it helps me better understand the worls around me! Thank you.

[cosmorito]

Nucleus: grain of rice
Proton: grain of salt
Electron:😐

[morisn]

I've always entertained a Dr Seuss's kind of alternate reality where there is actually an ecosystem existing at an atomic level and they consider it as being as huge as the Solar system. How amazing that would be, wouldn't it?

[bijisivakumar]

Fun fact: A quark(that is what protons are made of and there is not a smaller particle discovered) is so small that u appear like the universe for them

Edit: thank u for 300 likes

[morgannaomi]

You keep saying "optimistic" while simultaneously causing me to have existential crises every time I see these types of videos 😂

[sprince]

And there are quarks that make up protons, it's amazing!

[Dr_Larken]

Hairy salt! Gotch!

Seriously, this was a good way to put it in perspective the size difference! The fact that over 2000 years ago an atom was theorized, wasn’t able to be observed until recently is pretty amazing!

[FebruaryHasDays]

"like the distance from Paris to Rome"
My brain: *I see you like Europe*

[josh]

You explain things so well-don’t stop!