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II. Short Answer Questions · Q2

Q.What is the difference between Nano materials and Bulk materials?

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✓ Free question

Step 1. The dividing line is size: if a solid particle's size is less than 100 nm, it is called a 'nano solid'; once the particle size exceeds 100 nm, it is called a 'bulk solid'.

Step 2. The nano form of a material shows strikingly different properties compared with its bulk counterpart -- properties that can differ in optical behaviour (colour/absorption), electrical behaviour, mechanical strength, or chemical reactivity.

Step 3. This difference is governed chiefly by two phenomena that only become significant at the nanoscale: quantum confinement effects, where electron behaviour becomes restricted by the particle's tiny size, and surface effects, where a much larger fraction of the material's atoms sit right at the surface than would be true in a bulk sample, changing how reactive the material is.

✓Final answer

Nano materials (< 100 nm) and bulk materials (> 100 nm) of the SAME substance can have very different properties, driven by quantum-confinement and surface effects that only matter once a particle is nano-sized.

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