A Problem Squared

023 = The Weight of Words and Graphene for Turds

Sep 30, 2021
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
ANECDOTE

Protractor Confiscated At The Shard

  • Matt had a giant homemade protractor confiscated at the Shard because security said it could be a weapon.
  • He described its plumb line and how the perspex chunk looked like glass, leading to its removal.
INSIGHT

Graphene Roll Reaches Halfway Around Earth

  • Graphene is a single-atom-thick hexagonal lattice of carbon with extraordinary strength and tiny thickness.
  • Using 0.5 nm thickness, a 12 cm toilet-paper roll of single-ply graphene would stretch about 20 million meters (20,000 km).
INSIGHT

Graphene Thickness Depends On Measurement

  • Measuring graphene thickness is nontrivial and depends on the measurement force; it can be squashed.
  • The Institute of Physics paper suggests a practical single-layer thickness near 0.43 nm, so Matt used ~0.5 nm in his estimate.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app