Timeline for Why can't we see individual air molecules?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
8 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 6 at 10:59 | comment | added | Toffomat | You can in principle see the photons emitted from a single atom which is held very still in a trap and is excited by a laser (not at all similar to molecules of air in sunlight!), e.g., newscientist.com/article/… | |
| Nov 6 at 10:42 | comment | added | Professor Sushing | With the greatest respect, the scenario you are now describing is utterly different from your original question. I suggest you ask a new question on whether there are any possible circumstances under which an unaided human eye might be capable of perceiving a single oxygen molecule . | |
| Nov 6 at 10:03 | comment | added | Virender Bhardwaj | Hmm, I think I didn't framed my question well. What I am imagining is a SINGLE dot shooting it's photons on one photoreceptor cell. And let's say there is NO background like there is complete darkness and let's say light source is behind you so it's not in the background. And it's shining onto that molecule (or dot). So even though the edges of the dot are very very close they would still activate atleast one photoreceptor right? So I think we should be able to see it? Because now there is nothing to blend it with?Or just one photoreceptor is not enough for us to generate a visual response? | |
| Nov 6 at 9:55 | comment | added | Professor Sushing | And finally, the molecules are moving faster than bullets! | |
| Nov 6 at 9:54 | comment | added | Professor Sushing | No! I have already told you that the molecule is too small. Also, you claim that the molecules are far apart- that is not true, the mean distance between neighbouring molecules is smaller than you think. Also, there are trillions of other molecules lined up in front and behind whichever one you might specify, which you seem to be overlooking. | |
| Nov 6 at 9:45 | comment | added | Virender Bhardwaj | Still if that's the case a single molecule should appear as blue dot. So why is our blending all of them? And can we see a tiny molecule in isolation? | |
| Nov 6 at 9:41 | comment | added | Virender Bhardwaj | You are talking about angular resolution again. But I have given a reason for why I think it shouldn't be the case. Basically even though they are so tiny, they are too far apart. And when we study about this diffraction limit we consider two POINT sources which are very close to each other. But molecules are too far apart. So it shouldn't be the case | |
| Nov 6 at 9:26 | history | answered | Professor Sushing | CC BY-SA 4.0 |