A molecule is a single particle so how can a single molecule spread across the surface of a planet? A molecule is a combination of atoms, e.g., one molecule of water combines two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen. Thus, if a water molecule were able to combine with more atoms, i.e., if, instead of forming a second molecule, the extra atoms were to be incorporated into the first molecule, not H20 + H20 but H402, then the single molecule would be able to grow indefinitely by absorbing more atoms.
I dropped science early at school. In connection with this blog post, it occurred to me to google the largest molecule.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I find the idea of a single molecule covering an entire planet very intriguing. And we can trust Anderson to develop that idea in an at least speculatively plausible way.
Current books: SILVERLOCK, by John Myers Myers and A WORLD OUT OF TIME, by Larry Niven.
Books to be read: BEOWULF, trans. by Seamus Heaney and SIR NIGEL, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
So I already have a lot on my reading plate! (Smiles)
Ad astra! Sean
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