原子有多小？劇透：非常小。：英語精讀講義

Atoms are ridiculous and unbelievably small.

原子小得離譜，難以置信。

A single human hair is about as thick as 500,000 carbon atoms stacked over each other. 文法

一根人類頭髮的厚度，大約相當於50萬個碳原子疊在一起。

Look at your fist.

看看你的拳頭。

It contains trillions and trillions of atoms. 片語搭配

裡面包含著數以兆計的原子。

If one atom in it were about as big as a marble, 文法

如果裡面的一個原子有彈珠那麼大，

how big would your fist be?

你的拳頭會有多大？

Well, about the size of Earth.

嗯，大概有地球那麼大。

Hmm, still hard to imagine?

唔，還是很難想像嗎？

Let's try something different. 表達脈絡

我們換個方式試試。

Look at your little finger.

看看你的小指。

Imagine that its tip is as big as the room you're sitting in right now.

想像它的指尖有你現在坐的房間那麼大。

Now, fill the room with grains of rice. 文法

現在，把這個房間裝滿白米。

One rice corn represents one cell of your fingertip.

一粒米代表你指尖上的一個細胞。

Now, let's zoom in on the rice corn. 片語動詞

現在，我們放大這粒米。

And now,

此時，

one cell is as big as the room you're in right now.

一個細胞就有你現在所在的房間那麼大。

Let's fill it with rice again.

我們再次把它裝滿白米。

This is about the size of a protein. 片語搭配

這大約就是一個蛋白質的大小。

And now, let us fill all the empty spaces between the rice corns

現在，讓我們把米粒之間的所有縫隙

with fine grains of sand.

都填滿細沙。

This is roughly how small atoms are.

這就是原子大概的大小。

What is an atom made of? 片語搭配

原子是由什麼構成的？

Let us just pretend that atoms look like this for a minute

我們先假裝原子長這樣，

to make it easier to understand.

以便更容易理解。

An atom consists of three elementary particles: 片語搭配

原子由三種基本粒子組成：

neutrons, protons, and electrons.

中子、質子和電子。

Protons and neutrons bind together and form the atom core,

質子和中子結合在一起形成原子核，

held together by the strong interaction, 文化背景

由強交互作用力維繫，

one of the four fundamental forces in the universe.

這是宇宙四大基本力之一。

They are made from quarks and held together by gluons.

它們由夸克組成，並透過膠子結合在一起。

Nobody knows exactly how small quarks are. 文法

沒人確切知道夸克有多小。

We think they might literally be points, 用詞

我們認為它們可能真的是點，

like in geometry.

就像幾何學裡的點一樣。

Try to imagine them as being zero-dimensional.

試著把它們想像成零維的。

We suspect that quarks and electrons are the most fundamental components of matter in the universe.

我們懷疑夸克和電子是宇宙中最基本的物質成分。

Electrons orbit the atom core.

電子繞著原子核運行。

They travel at a speed of about 2,200 km/s,

它們以大約每秒2200公里的速度穿梭，

fast enough to get around the Earth in just over 18 seconds. 文法

快到只需18秒多一點就能繞地球一圈。

Like quarks,

就像夸克一樣，

we think electrons are fundamental particles.

我們認為電子是基本粒子。

99.99999999999% of an atom's volume is just empty space, 表達脈絡

原子99.99999999999%的體積只是空無一物的空間，

except that it isn't.

但實際上並非如此。

What we perceive as emptiness is actually a space filled by quantum fluctuations, 講解

我們以為的虛空其實充滿著量子起伏，

fields that have potential energy and build and dissolve spontaneously.

這些具有位能的場在自發地形成和消散。

These fluctuations have a fundamental impact on how charged particles interact, 片語搭配

這些起伏對帶電粒子如何交互作用有著根本性的影響，

but that's a topic for another video. 表達脈絡

不過那是另一支影片的主題了。

How much space do the core and electrons actually fill?

原子核和電子實際上佔據了多少空間？

If you were to subtract all the spaces between the atom cores from the Empire State Building, 文化背景

如果你把帝國大廈中原子核之間的所有空隙都去掉，

it would be about as big as a rice corn.

它差不多就只有一粒米那麼大。

All the atoms of humanity would fit in a teaspoon.

全人類所有的原子加起來，只用一把茶匙就能裝下。

There are extreme objects where states like this actually exist.

在一些極端的星體中，這種狀態是真實存在的。

In a neutron star, 文化背景

在中子星裡，

atom cores are compacted so densely 文法

原子核被壓縮得極其緊密，

that the mass of three suns fits into an object only a few kilometers wide.

以至於三個太陽的質量都能被塞進一個只有幾公里寬的天體中。

By the way, what do atoms look like? 表達脈絡

順便問一下，原子到底長什麼樣？

Well, kind of like this. 片語搭配

嗯，大概像這樣。

Electrons are like a wave function and a particle at the same time. 用詞

電子同時具有波函數和粒子的特性。

We can calculate where an electron might be at any given moment in time. 片語搭配

我們可以計算出電子在任何給定時刻可能出現的位置。

These clouds of probability, called orbitals, 用詞

這些被稱為軌域的機率雲，

are where electrons might be with a certainty of 95%.

就是電子有95%的機率出現的地方。

The probability of finding an electron approaches zero the further we get away from the atom core, 文法

我們離原子核越遠，找到電子的機率就越接近於零，

but it actually never is zero,

但它永遠不會真的是零，

which means that, in theory, 片語搭配

這就意味著，在理論上，

the electron of an atom could be on the other side of the universe.

一個原子的電子可能會在宇宙的另一端。

Okay, wait a second. 語氣意圖

等等，稍等一下。

These strange thingies make up all the matter in the universe. 講解

這些奇怪的小東西構成了宇宙中的所有物質。

For many dozens of known elements,

對於幾十種已知元素來說，

you don't need many dozens of elementary particles,

你不需要幾十種基本粒子，

just three.

只需要三種。

Take one proton and one electron, 文法

拿一個質子和一個電子，

and you have hydrogen.

你就得到了氫。

Add a proton and a neutron,

加一個質子和一個中子，

you have helium.

你就得到了氦。

Add a few more,

再加幾個，

you get carbon.

你就得到了碳。

A few more, fluorine.

再加幾個，得到氟。

Even more, gold.

再多點，得到金。

And so on.

以此類推。

And every atom of an element is the same.

一種元素的所有原子都是相同的。

All hydrogen atoms in the universe,

宇宙中所有的氫原子，

for example, are the same.

例如，都是一樣的。

The hydrogen in your body is exactly the same as the hydrogen in the sun.

你體內的氫和太陽裡的氫完全一模一樣。

Do you feel confused right now?

你現在覺得困惑嗎？

We certainly do. 文法

我們肯定是有點。

Nothing on this scale of the universe makes any sense in our world, 片語搭配

在我們這個世界裡，宇宙的這種微觀尺度是說不通的，

and we've not even begun talking about quantum mechanics or the particle zoo, 講解

而且我們甚至還沒開始討論量子力學或粒子動物園，

which are even stranger.

那些還要更加奇怪。

Our model of atoms has changed a number of times since we first conceived it, 文法

自從我們最開始構想出原子模型以來，它已經改變過好幾次了，

and the current one will certainly not be the last.

而目前的模型肯定也不會是最後一個。

So, let us support scientists and research

所以，讓我們支持科學家和科學研究，

and wait for the next wave of mind-boggling new information 講解

等待下一波令人震撼的新資訊，

about this strange world

去了解這個奇妙的世界，

that is the basis for our existence.

這正是我們存在的基礎。