{
  "name": "Bench card: How small is an atom",
  "desc": "Bench card for the estimate: question, answer range, method, number of inputs, weakest input and key source.",
  "lic": "CC BY 4.0",
  "lic_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "by": "Ants, Cells & Atoms",
  "url": "https://antscellsandatoms.com/scale/atom-size/",
  "from": [
    "media/atom-size-diameter-summary.csv",
    "media/atom-size-hair-count.csv",
    "media/atom-size-two-routes.csv",
    "media/atom-size-atomic-radii.csv"
  ],
  "how": "Compiled by Ants, Cells & Atoms from the data listed",
  "data_by": [
    "PubChem element records 1–96, Atomic Radius section, PubChem 2025 update, https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkae1059 (covalent radii from Cordero B et al. 2008, Dalton Transactions, https://doi.org/10.1039/b801115j; empirical radii from Slater JC 1964, The Journal of Chemical Physics, https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1725697; van der Waals radii from the Los Alamos National Laboratory periodic table; retrieved 2026-10-25)",
    "Li C et al. 2023, Journal of Biomedical Optics 28(11):116501, CC BY 4.0, https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.28.11.116501 (human hair, typically 50–100 µm; shared reference-objects.csv; retrieved 2026-10-25)",
    "PubChem 2025 update: Kim S et al. 2025, Nucleic Acids Research 53(D1):D1516–D1525, https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkae1059 (retrieved 2026-10-25)",
    "counts computed 2026-10-25 for this page"
  ]
}