March 31, 2005

Ability to determine mass sinks to a new low

What mass can the world’s smallest scale detect? A zeptogram, which is one gram times 10 to-the-negative-21st power, or about the mass of one protein molecule. How is this done? A small blade is vibrated in a magnetic field. When the particle to be weighed are placed on the blade, the frequency of the vibration changes, and the mass of the particle is related to the frequency. Link.

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