Atomic Coatings: The Size of an Atom—ChemTopic™ Lab Activity

The size of an atom is too small to imagine, and counting atoms even in a microscopic amount of material is impossible, but it is possible to apply a thin surface coating of metal atoms onto another metal to change the properties of the underlying or base metal. With the Atomic Coatings: The Size of an Atom—ChemTopic™ Lab Activity, determine the thickness of a protective zinc metal coating on galvanized iron, and use this to “count” the number of layers of atoms.