| MadSci Network: Cell Biology |
I need to give a talk in which I help kids visualize the size of an "average" human cell, which I have found via research to be about 20 microns in diameter, or 1/200ths of a millimeter. But all these measurements are too abstract to kids and I want them to at least attempt to get a visceral feel for these scales. Need to get this into inches, not metrics. Since a millimeter is roughly 1/25th of an inch, am I correct in having them do the following exercise, which can't be done but which the attempt to do should impress upon them the scale we are talking about: Plot out one inch on graph paper. Try to divide that inch into 25 equal smaller units (one of those units gets them to a millimeter). Then attempt to divide one of those smaller segments into 200 smaller units (one of those still smaller units gets them to a micron/micrometer). An "average" human cell would fit into one of those 200 smaller units. (20 microns = 1/200ths of 1/25th of an inch)? Is this interpretation of the math correct? Appreciate any help!
Re: Grapsing the size of an average human cell
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