For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. Psalm 103:14
"Yes, we exist.
Yes, the world is real.
But, the reality of our reality is very, very strange.
You see, we are made of almost nothing. Everything we see is mostly made up of empty space. This is shocking when you first realize it.
We and everything we can see are made up of atoms.
It has a dense center called a nucleus and a cloud of electrons surrounding it. Inside the nucleus are protons and neutrons.
--The nucleus is held together by incredibly strong forces that act at only short distances.
--And since ‘opposite charges attract’, the positively-charged protons in the nucleus attract the negatively-charged electrons that reside in a ‘cloud’ surrounding the nucleus.
So, the space between the nucleus and the electron cloud is quite large, compared to the diameter of the nucleus. It helps to have something to compare to.
If you were to make the nucleus as large as the sun, the average distance to the electrons would be 14 times as far away as Pluto!
In a molecule, nuclei would be about 100 billion miles apart. But even at this scale the electrons would still have essentially no ‘size’. That means the inside of the atom, and the inside of any molecule, is almost completely empty.
Comparing the sun and Pluto to the nucleus and electron. At these scales, it would be impossible to even see these things, so each is represented by a tiny point....our bodies are more than 99.99999999% empty space!
But if we are made up of empty space, how can the human body (or any other physical object) be ‘seen’ or ‘felt’?
--When we see something, what we are detecting is the light (an electromagnetic wave) reflecting from the surface of the object. Some electromagnetic waves (e.g. X-rays) pass right through most objects. This is because their wavelengths are shorter than the spacing between the nuclei, so they can almost literally squeeze between atoms.
--Another type of electromagnetic waves, infrared, is usually absorbed. This is because they are very long waves with low energy, and they get absorbed by molecules, causing their atoms to wiggle (that is, heat up). In between those two extremes is the ‘visible’ part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Visible light tends to bounce off most objects. Even though the atoms are very tiny, very far apart, and made up mostly of empty space, the electron clouds create a continuous ‘surface’. What you see is the light waves that are reflected from the surface.
Mankind has a very special place in God’s creation. In one sense, He built this world, this universe, to bring about a bride for Christ. Next to Him, we are nothing."
CMI
"Yes, we exist.
Yes, the world is real.
But, the reality of our reality is very, very strange.
You see, we are made of almost nothing. Everything we see is mostly made up of empty space. This is shocking when you first realize it.
We and everything we can see are made up of atoms.
It has a dense center called a nucleus and a cloud of electrons surrounding it. Inside the nucleus are protons and neutrons.
--The nucleus is held together by incredibly strong forces that act at only short distances.
--And since ‘opposite charges attract’, the positively-charged protons in the nucleus attract the negatively-charged electrons that reside in a ‘cloud’ surrounding the nucleus.
So, the space between the nucleus and the electron cloud is quite large, compared to the diameter of the nucleus. It helps to have something to compare to.
If you were to make the nucleus as large as the sun, the average distance to the electrons would be 14 times as far away as Pluto!
In a molecule, nuclei would be about 100 billion miles apart. But even at this scale the electrons would still have essentially no ‘size’. That means the inside of the atom, and the inside of any molecule, is almost completely empty.
Comparing the sun and Pluto to the nucleus and electron. At these scales, it would be impossible to even see these things, so each is represented by a tiny point....our bodies are more than 99.99999999% empty space!
But if we are made up of empty space, how can the human body (or any other physical object) be ‘seen’ or ‘felt’?
--When we see something, what we are detecting is the light (an electromagnetic wave) reflecting from the surface of the object. Some electromagnetic waves (e.g. X-rays) pass right through most objects. This is because their wavelengths are shorter than the spacing between the nuclei, so they can almost literally squeeze between atoms.
--Another type of electromagnetic waves, infrared, is usually absorbed. This is because they are very long waves with low energy, and they get absorbed by molecules, causing their atoms to wiggle (that is, heat up). In between those two extremes is the ‘visible’ part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Visible light tends to bounce off most objects. Even though the atoms are very tiny, very far apart, and made up mostly of empty space, the electron clouds create a continuous ‘surface’. What you see is the light waves that are reflected from the surface.
Mankind has a very special place in God’s creation. In one sense, He built this world, this universe, to bring about a bride for Christ. Next to Him, we are nothing."
CMI
