Does the size of small objects influence chemical reactivity in living systems?

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 26, 2026

Precise Electrochemical Sizing of Individual Electro-Inactive Particles
05:03

Precise Electrochemical Sizing of Individual Electro-Inactive Particles

Published on: August 4, 2023

Albert Sanfeld1, Annie Steinchen, Albert Steinchen

  • 1UMR 6171, faculté des sciences de Saint-Jérôme, bd Escadrille-Normandie-Niemen, 13397 Marseille, France. a.sanfeld@vmesa12.u-3mrs.fr

Comptes Rendus Biologies
|May 21, 2003
PubMed

More Related Videos

Controlling the Size, Shape and Stability of Supramolecular Polymers in Water16:24

Controlling the Size, Shape and Stability of Supramolecular Polymers in Water

Published on: August 2, 2012

In Situ SIMS and IR Spectroscopy of Well-defined Surfaces Prepared by Soft Landing of Mass-selected Ions10:22

In Situ SIMS and IR Spectroscopy of Well-defined Surfaces Prepared by Soft Landing of Mass-selected Ions

Published on: June 16, 2014

Related Concept Videos

Factors Influencing the Rate of Chemical Reactions01:22

Factors Influencing the Rate of Chemical Reactions

A variety of factors influence the rate of chemical reactions. For a chemical reaction to happen, atoms must collide with enough energy to overcome the repulsion between their electrons. This energy is called activation energy. Factors influencing the rate of reaction either lower the activation energy or increase the likelihood of a successful collision.
Concentration and Pressure:
The more particles present within a given space, the more likely those particles are to bump into one another.
Precipitate Formation and Particle Size Control01:16

Precipitate Formation and Particle Size Control

In precipitation gravimetry, the precipitating agent should react specifically or selectively with the analyte. While a specific reagent reacts with the analyte alone, a selective reagent can react with a limited number of chemical species.
The obtained precipitate should be either a pure substance of known composition or easily converted to one by a simple process, such as ignition or drying. In addition, the precipitate should be insoluble and easily filterable. In general, filterability...
Predicting Reaction Outcomes02:24

Predicting Reaction Outcomes

Kinetics describes the rate and path by which a reaction occurs. In contrast, thermodynamics deals with state functions and describes the properties, behavior, and components of a system. It is not concerned with the path taken by the process and cannot address the rate at which a reaction occurs. Although it does provide information about what can happen during a reaction process, it does not describe the detailed steps of what appears on an atomic or a molecular level. On the other hand,...
Factors Affecting Dissolution: Particle Size and Effective Surface Area01:23

Factors Affecting Dissolution: Particle Size and Effective Surface Area

Dissolution kinetics, an essential aspect of oral drug delivery, is significantly influenced by the drug's particle size. According to the Noyes-Whitney dissolution model, the dissolution rate correlates directly with the drug's surface area. The larger the surface area, the higher the drug's solubility in water, leading to a faster drug dissolution rate. Reducing particle size increases the effective surface area, enhancing the dissolution process. Micronization and nanosizing are employed to...
Induced-fit Model01:13

Induced-fit Model

Most chemical reactions in cells require enzymes—biological catalysts that speed up the reaction without being consumed or permanently changed. They reduce the activation energy needed to convert the reactants into products. Enzymes are proteins, that usually work by binding to a substrate—a reactant molecule that they act upon.
Enzymes exhibit substrate specificity, meaning that they can only bind to certain substrates. This is mainly determined by the shape and chemical characteristics of...
Introduction to Chemical Reactions01:23

Introduction to Chemical Reactions

All chemical reactions begin with a reactant, the general term for one or more substances entering the reaction. Sodium and chloride ions, for example, are the reactants in the production of table salt. One or more substances produced by a chemical reaction are called the product. Chemical reactions follow the law of conservation of mass, which means that matter cannot be created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction. The components of the reactants—the number of atoms and the elements—are all...