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Nanometre Definition and Origin: Measuring the Microscopic

  1. Definition: A nanometre is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one billionth of a meter (0.000000001 or 10^-9 meters). It’s commonly used in fields like physics, chemistry, and biology to measure things at the molecular and atomic scales, such as the wavelengths of light, the size of molecules, and the dimensions of microstructures.
  2. Etymology and Origin: The word “nanometre” is derived from the Greek word “nanos,” meaning “dwarf,” and the standard metric unit “meter.” “Nano-” as a prefix in the metric system was officially adopted in the 1960s to denote a factor of one billionth.

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