“Perhaps the most impressive illustration of all is to suppose that you could label the molecules in a tumbler of water. ... threw it anywhere you please on the earth, and went away from the earth for a few million years while all the water on the earth, the oceans, rivers, lakes and clouds had had time to mix up perfectly. Now supposing that perfect mixing had taken place, you come back to earth and draw a similar tumbler of water from the nearest tap, how many of those marked molecules would you expect to find in it? Well, the answer is 2000. There are 2000 times more molecules in a tumbler of water than there are tumblers of water in the whole earth.”
Quote by Francis William Aston
Author
Francis William Aston
Francis William Aston was a British chemist renowned for his contributions to mass spectrometry. He won the 1922 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for inventing the mass spectrometer and using it to study isotopes. Aston's research had a profound impact on the development of chemistry and physics. more
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