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Micro World

How small is a colloidal gold nanoparticle?

A typical colloidal gold nanoparticle is about 20 nm across.

What is measured: engineered nanoparticle, typical diameter

Colloidal Gold Nanoparticle (20 nm) drawn to scale beside a DNA double helix (2 nm) and a ribosome (25 nm)
Drawn to scale, from left to right: DNA double helix (2 nm), Colloidal Gold Nanoparticle (20 nm) and Ribosome (25 nm).

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How big is that, really?

  • A little smaller than a ribosome
  • About 5 would fit across a flu virus
  • As wide as about 10 DNA double helices side by side

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Facts about Colloidal Gold Nanoparticle

Colloidal gold nanoparticles appear ruby-red in solution and were used to color stained glass in medieval times.

Source: Nature Nanotechnology reviews; American Chemical Society

Micro World

NameSizeCompared with Colloidal Gold Nanoparticle
Transfer RNA Molecule8 nm0.4×
Amyloid Beta Fibril10 nm0.5×
Semiconductor Quantum Dot10 nm0.5×
Nucleosome11 nm0.55×
Ferritin Molecule12 nm0.6×
Colloidal Gold Nanoparticle20 nmthis page
Bacteriophage Phi X17427 nm1.4×
Qβ Bacteriophage28 nm1.4×
Silver Nanoparticle40 nm2×
Fibrinogen Molecule45 nm2.3×

Test your sense of scale

Which is bigger: Colloidal Gold Nanoparticle or Bacteriophage Phi X174?

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More sizes like this