Microparticles
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Microparticles are particles between 1 and 100 μm in size. Commercially available microparticles include those made of glass, latex, polystyrene, various metals (carbon, silver, copper, etc.), and various magnetic materials. One can encounter microparticles everyday, such as pollen, very fine sand, and dust.
Because of the scaling laws, microparticles have a much larger surface-to-volume ratio than at the macroscale, and thus their behavior can be quite different. For example, metal microparticles can be explosive in air.
[edit] Microparticles in diagnostic medical tests
Most people are familiar with a home pregnancy test - a color appears if the test is positive. Such test make use of gold microparticles.
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