Please try to find a mathematical equation, not an experiment needing factories!
2006-08-01 12:10:07 · 5 answers · asked by Palestini Detective 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
You can't. Atoms don't have any exact size. The elctrons exist in clouds that are potentially infinite in size.
There are atoms in your body thatright now have their electrons out past Pluto. Seriously. The probability of an electron existing in an orbital that far out is vanishingly small, but there are so many atoms in your body that there are always some of them out there.
So as you can see you can't actually measure the size of an atom. The same atom is anything from a few angstroms across to several light years across simultaneously.
2006-08-01 12:28:51 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Hydrogen is the only atom that has an equation for it's size. All the others have to be measured.
And you can never find it exactly, because of the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics.
You might try http://www.google.com , and find out what people who have already measured it have to say.
2006-08-01 22:13:48 · answer #2 · answered by genericman1998 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Quantum Physics says that you can't, since the act of measuring changes what you are trying to measure. Therefore the best you can do is a very good approximation.
2006-08-01 19:20:29 · answer #3 · answered by cyberdjinn2k 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on the atom, I have a book that givens me the radii for some in nano metres
2006-08-01 19:12:33 · answer #4 · answered by Gypsophila 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Measure it by weight.
2006-08-01 19:52:46 · answer #5 · answered by Ryan B 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋