The radius of an atom of tungsten (W) is about 2.10 A . (a) Express this distance in nanometers (nm).

Key Concepts

Unit Conversion

Unit conversion is the process of converting a quantity expressed in one unit to another unit. In this case, we need to convert angstroms (A) to nanometers (nm). Knowing that 1 A equals 0.1 nm is essential for performing this conversion accurately.

Atomic Radius

The atomic radius is a measure of the size of an atom, typically defined as the distance from the nucleus to the outer boundary of the surrounding cloud of electrons. For tungsten, the atomic radius is given as 2.10 A, which provides insight into its size relative to other elements.

Metric Prefixes

Metric prefixes are used to denote multiples or fractions of units in the metric system. For example, 'nano-' denotes a factor of 10^-9. Understanding these prefixes is crucial for interpreting measurements and performing conversions between different scales, such as from angstroms to nanometers.