Societal Implications of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology 55 6.2 FOCUS ON ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF POTENTIAL TECHNOLOGY IMPACT OF NANOTECHNOLOGY ON THE CHEMICAL AND AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRIES

The relationship between the meter and the nanometer can be understood better in monetary terms. A dollar bill is to a billion dollars, as a nanometer is to a meter. There are 1000 million dollars in a billion, and there are 1000 one thousand dollar bills in a million dollars. Thus a nanometer is 1000x1000x1000 times smaller than a meter, just as a dollar is 1000x1000x1000 smaller than a billion dollars. Nanotechnology deals with objects having at least one dimension in the range of nanometers, typically from 1 to 100 nm.