Carbon sheet, one atom thick

[MrPercie]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-enviro nment-16362899

there isnt a good picture but if you look at the main image, you can see a guy holding up a carbon sheet one atom thick

its crazy, looks like something from futuristic fil

[ExpletiveDeleted]

"one atom thick"

this is why true 2D doesnt exist

[Razz]

At 1/1/12 04:13 PM, ExpletiveDeleted wrote: "one atom thick"

this is why true 2D doesnt exist

0D, 1D, 2D, and 4D must not exist either. In my mind it always made sense, they they all "exist" but just not within our dimension. At least not the "true" form as you stated; we perceive 3D images.

[Scintillating]

If you held it taut and brought it up to your flesh, I bet it would cut easier than any razor blade ever concieved. Have fun thinking about that.

[SpaceWhale]

Oh hey, that's pretty neat. I wonder what it'll be used for commercially.

[maxninja234]

At 1/1/12 04:28 PM, SpaceWhale wrote: Oh hey, that's pretty neat. I wonder what it'll be used for commercially.

Condoms...please let it be condoms.

[Painbringer]

At 1/1/12 04:28 PM, SpaceWhale wrote: Oh hey, that's pretty neat. I wonder what it'll be used for commercially.

It would make an ideal solar sail for space travel purposes.

[POTaTOS]

At 1/1/12 04:28 PM, SpaceWhale wrote: Oh hey, that's pretty neat. I wonder what it'll be used for commercially.

Toilet paper?

[Wolfos]

If we're talking about consumer appliances, I would say it could be used in computers. An atom is about half a nanometer thick, imagine making transistors at that size.

[Scintillating]

At 1/1/12 05:02 PM, Wolfos wrote: If we're talking about consumer appliances, I would say it could be used in computers. An atom is about half a nanometer thick, imagine making transistors at that size.

Half a nanometer thick? Nope.jpg. An average atom is like in the range of a few hundred PICOMETERS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picometre

[froggerfreak]

At 1/1/12 05:02 PM, Wolfos wrote: If we're talking about consumer appliances, I would say it could be used in computers. An atom is about half a nanometer thick, imagine making transistors at that size.

They've already done that, although it doesn't work for computers.

[ExpletiveDeleted]

At 1/1/12 05:09 PM, Scintillating wrote: Half a nanometer thick? Nope.jpg. An average atom is like in the range of a few hundred PICOMETERS

so between 1/10 and 9/10 of a nanometer

[All-American-Badass]

a 1% mixture into plastics could make them conductors

That statement doesn't give me much comfort.

[comicretard]

Seriously, this is real? One atom?

[ExpletiveDeleted]

At 1/1/12 05:36 PM, comicretard wrote: Seriously, this is real? One atom?

of carbon so its not like its helium

[Lorkas]

This is crazy, shouldn't it be invisible and have an extremely low mass?

[ExpletiveDeleted]

At 1/1/12 05:51 PM, Lorkas wrote: This is crazy, shouldn't it be invisible and have an extremely low mass?

four out of its six faces are invisible to the naked eye for obvious reason but carbon isnt that dense so its mass is probably pretty low

[Winrar1337]

At 1/1/12 04:56 PM, POTaTOS wrote:

At 1/1/12 04:28 PM, SpaceWhale wrote: Oh hey, that's pretty neat. I wonder what it'll be used for commercially.

Toilet paper?

I don't think it would be very soft or absorbent.

[Entice]

That's a truly amazing discovery.

"About 1% of graphene mixed into plastics could turn them into electrical conductors."

Think of the possibilities! Maybe we'll see graphene in the next super computers.

[SuperSilver123]

Just one atom? How is this possible?

Wouldn't that make the sheet completely transparent and invisible? How is it even able to be held? Wouldn't it break apart extremely easily considering there are not many atoms that support each other to be attached for a long time? How would the sheet of graphene even be felt without breaking it? How did the scientists even make a sheet of 1 atom-thick carbon?

Sorry, but I cannot comprehend the fact that a sheet that is just ONE atom thick, not even a more reasonable amount like just 4000 atoms thick or something, can even exist. Just the fact that the sheet is conveniently 1 atom thick and solely 1 seems too unbelievable.

Please tell me I'm not getting something because I may be wrong.

[Sword-of-Kings]

At 1/1/12 05:59 PM, Winrar1337 wrote:

At 1/1/12 04:56 PM, POTaTOS wrote:

At 1/1/12 04:28 PM, SpaceWhale wrote: Oh hey, that's pretty neat. I wonder what it'll be used for commercially.

Toilet paper?

I don't think it would be very soft or absorbent.

Hehe..

[Mumbo]

I saw a news report on this. they were hypothesizing making an iPad from graphene eventually.

[Scintillating]

At 1/1/12 08:30 PM, SuperSilver123 wrote: Just one atom? How is this possible?

Wouldn't that make the sheet completely transparent and invisible? How is it even able to be held? Wouldn't it break apart extremely easily considering there are not many atoms that support each other to be attached for a long time? How would the sheet of graphene even be felt without breaking it? How did the scientists even make a sheet of 1 atom-thick carbon?

Perhaps the one in the pic wasn't the 1 atom thick sheet. Maybe they can't actually touch/handle the award winning 1 atom thick sheet.

But supposing that it can be touched and held, just because it's one atom thick doesn't automatically mean it's brittle or easy to break. Atomic bonds can be very strong you know. It could even require tons of force to pull apart, who knows.

[Light]

At 1/1/12 04:11 PM, MrPercie wrote: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-enviro nment-16362899

there isnt a good picture but if you look at the main image, you can see a guy holding up a carbon sheet one atom thick

its crazy, looks like something from futuristic fil

Science. It never ceases to amaze me...it's a great time to be alive in the 21st century. Just imagine what life will be like in the next couple of decades. Who knows what else science will have come up with?

[MoonCraft]

I learned about Graphene in my Gen. Physics class. They're considering replacing carbon nano-tubes with it for the proposed space elevator.

[Squidbit]

You know how in cartoons they show someone really skinny, then the person turns sideways and disappears?
You could ACTUALLY do that with this

[sweet21]

At 1/1/12 08:30 PM, SuperSilver123 wrote: Just one atom? How is this possible?

I read about this on cracked! This shit as also a strong as steel. IF were thinking of the same material....

[MrPercie]

At 1/1/12 11:34 PM, Scintillating wrote: But supposing that it can be touched and held, just because it's one atom thick doesn't automatically mean it's brittle or easy to break. Atomic bonds can be very strong you know. It could even require tons of force to pull apart, who knows.

for instance, take graphite

the bonds between carbon atoms in graphite are VERY strong but the bonds between the MOLECUES are very weak and slide over one another, this carbone sheet is essiantly an enlarged carbon layer in graphite, so it would be pretty strong.

[Entice]

At 1/1/12 11:57 PM, sweet21 wrote: This shit as also a strong as steel.

Don't get too excited, strength can mean a whole lot of things. For example, aluminum has a higher tensile strength than steel, but you wouldn't use it for armor plating.

[i-am-ghey]

At 1/2/12 12:02 AM, MrPercie wrote: the bonds between carbon atoms in graphite are VERY strong but the bonds between the MOLECUES are very weak and slide over one another, this carbone sheet is essiantly an enlarged carbon layer in graphite, so it would be pretty strong.

since when is graphite a molecule? it is a giant network.

perhaps the only form of carbon molecule that i personally know is C60, which has a ball like structure composing of 60 carbon atoms.