photo credit: Auke Visser's International Super Tankers

Oil Tanker Size

This image (hi-res version) shows the "Knock Nevis," (also known as the "Jahre Viking"--scroll down for photos).  Formerly the world's largest supertanker, it is now refitted for storage and offloading.  Tankers are built so large mostly because as they get bigger, their volume increases faster than their surface area. To learn more, visit Oil tankers.

Interestingly, the same geometry limits the maximum size of cells--for more, see Cells: Surface-Volume
and, for more on the math, visit the Size of Organisms: the Surface Area-Volume Ratio.

Login to Comment on this Item

The Distorted Room

Build a small version of the famous Distorted Room by visiting this NOVA site. For a related activity see the Exploratorium activity Size and Distance.

Search:

Advanced Search

Browse Physics To Go by Topic.

image credit: Emad Tajkhorshid and Klaus Schulten, Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; image source

Precious Bodily Fluids

This computer-generated image (hi-res version) shows a cross-section of a cell wall, with the inside of the cell below and the aqueous environment above. Theoretical biophysicists used a supercomputer to show how the aquaporin protein molecule forms channels that pass water molecules--the small blue "V"s--into the cell, but block protons (not shown). To find out more, see Precious Bodily Fluids.

Careers Using Physics

What can you do with a bachelor's degree in physics? To find out, visit these sites:

• Society of Physics Students
• Australian Institute of Physics

This feature was updated on July 6, 2009.