Free Essays on Child Abuse

Most of us find it difficult to imagine how anyone could abuse infants and children. We can’t comprehend it. It doesn’t to us. In the past, our society has tried to deny it and pretend that such abuse did not exist. However, child abuse has been of the most prominent and acknowledged problems in Americans society. For many years, the enormity of the problem was simply inconceivable. Two factors brought the concerns and difficulties associated with abuse to the forefront of social consciousness. First was admitting the problems of child abuse. The second, acknowledging that abuse is present in families of all cultures, religions, and socioeconomic classes.1Experts now recognize abuse as a severe problem with potentially harmful and even devastating effects on children and adults who were abused children.2 Popular and clinical writings use varying definitions of child abuse. For the most part, child abuse includes physical harmful contact ranging from fondling to rape, neglect of physical well-being, and emotional harm through verbal abuse.3 Often children are victims of several forms of mistreatment. Not every abused child develops emotional or psychiatric problems. However, child abuse does seem to increase the likelihood of several difficulties.4 This may include aggression toward or avoidance of others, hyperactivity, anxiety, emotional withdrawal, mild to severe delays in physical and emotional growth, and sexualized behaviors. 5 Clearly, abuse contributes to a child’s concept of life. This may include a sense of loss of a good and just world, a negative outlook, and a lack of trust in others or self. 6 Children thrive on the sense of the mother and father being good, caring and all powering. When this person is abusive that interferes with the sense of goodness and fairness. Children feel fearful to their parents’ powerfulness.7 They lose their security. This makes these children more vulnerable to other abuses. N... Free Essays on Child Abuse Free Essays on Child Abuse Child Sexual Abuse The problem of child sexual abuse has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years. The American media have reported numerous cases in which persons in positions of trust- including day care providers, clergymen, and scout leaders- have been accused (and in some cases convicted) of molesting children under their care. Many of these charges have been made by adults who claim to have recovered repressed memories of abuse they were subjected to as children. Other widely reported stories have involved children being abused- and sometimes murdered- by convicted child molesters newly released from prison. In addition, pedophiles have reportedly lured child victims into abusive situations via the Internet. Commentators point to such developments as evidence that the problem of child sexual abuse in the United States is alarmingly serious. On the other hand, some researchers and social critics, while agreeing that child sexual abuse is a horrendous crime, maintain that the extent of the problem has been exaggerated due to various causes. Media critics contend that intensive reporting of a few sensational cases has created a sense of panic among the public. Others question the validity of the recovered memories that are the basis of many child abuse accusations. In addition, the victimization of children, society’s most vulnerable members, automatically provokes intense anger among parents and concerned citizens who demand action on the part of law enforcement. While such outrage is natural and understandable, some commentators argue that the public’s response to recent developments has been excessive and has created the impression that the problem is worse than it actually is. Varying estimates This debate remains unresolved in part because it is impossible to determine the exact extent of the problem. Experts believe that most cases of child sexual abuse are never reported to authorities. In fact, th... Free Essays on Child Abuse Imagine for one moment that you are not yourself any longer. Visualize instead that you are a young girl; old enough to know right from wrong yet still young enough to be terrified by the dark shadows in your room. It is a cool autumn night and your parents have opted to attend a party which you are not allowed at. â€Å"It will be fine,? they say. Although you already know what is to come. Your uncle comes over to watch you for the evening, and your parents are so pleased by the fact that they do not have to find a sitter. As soon as he arrives, your mother kisses you on the cheek and scurries out the door to join your father already waiting in the car outside. The nightmare begins. His slimy hands casually slide an ebony cartridge into the VCR as he smiles at you seductively. You can feel his eyes worming their gaze through your clothes every time that he looks at you. You feel dirty and violated every time you think about what he does to you when you are alone. He walks over to the couch and sits down next to you. His hand slithers it way onto your knee and you cringe in revulsion. â€Å"Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you,?he chides. Your mind feels panicky as you feel his touch in more intimate places and you scream involuntarily. His grip tightens as he places his hand over your mouth. â€Å"We’ll have to do this the hard way!?comes his intense whisper. You flail your arms at him, but it doesn’t help. His writhing massive body is on top of yours, and you feel so powerless. Eventually, you sink into a sobbing heap and simply wait for his passions to stop. You wait for the nightmare to end. When he is done, you limp to the laundry room and try fruitlessly to get the blood stains out of your clothes. It is all your fault... Abuse: The violation or defilement of; What you have just experienced is one type of abuse that occurs millions of times every year across America. Estimate... Free Essays on Child Abuse With society placing such significance on family preservation, many of the institutions set in place to protect children from abuse were focusing more attention on preserving the family than on protecting the child and the child’s rights. Welfare Service tends to be understanding and view both the parents and the child as victims of circumstance. Even the United State’s Supreme Court based their system around preservation of the family by making their rights of biological parents have more power in the courts than the children’s rights unless the biological parent loose their parental rights due to being found to be unfit (Bartholet 1999). Within this century, child pornography has begun to be recognized as a form of abuse with maltreatment of the fetus being considered another form of abuse. As a society we consider pornography as exploiting the innocence and rights of children. Also the recognition that fetuses are as living, breathing beings and should have just as many rights against abuse has caused the governments to enact laws which protect the fetus while it is still in the womb. Current Day Perspective Even though child abuse has been present throughout history and the issue has been brought out into the public eye more and more during the last century. The issue still remains one of the biggest problems in today’s society. There are many efforts and programs that have been put into place to help children who have already been abused or neglected, but at this time the focus needs to be placed on prevention. Through the years the rights of the children have been overlooked and emphasis on parental right has been the main concern of the legal system. Family preservation has been a main focus for many social services, courts and law enforcement. Even though parental rights are still placed as more important than the child’s rights; society has started to reevaluate whether or not it is more detrimental to keep the... Free Essays on Child Abuse In 1962, C. Henry Kempe conducted a survey of eighty-eight hospitals in which he identified 302 children who had been â€Å"battered†. The survey, which for the first time defined the â€Å"battered child syndrome†, graphically catalogued brutality to young children, many of whom suffered multiple injuries. While earlier discoveries of the child abuse phenomenon had smoldered in the public consciousness, Kempe’s report ignited a broad-based national effort to find ways to protect children. Specifically, it led to calls for child abuse reporting systems, to ensure that whenever a â€Å"battered child† was even suspected, the case would be reported and measures taken to protect the child. By 1966, all fifty states had passed legislation regulating child abuse, all of which mandated reporting. By 1986, every state but one required reporting of neglect, and forty-one states made explicit reference to reporting of emotional or psychological abuse. Initially mandated reporting was limited to physicians, but this was eventually extended to include teachers, nurses, counselors, and the general public. The state mandated reporting laws resulted in a meteoric rise in child abuse reports across the United States. In 1962, when Kempe and his colleagues published their report, there had been about 10,000 child abuse reports. By 1976, child abuse reports had risen to more than 669,000 and by 1978 to 836,000. By 1992, almost 3 million reports of child abuse were filed nationwide, including 1,261 child abuse-related fatalities. If current trends continue, it is projected that more than 4 million children will be reported for abuse annually by the year 2000. There are many different definitions for child abuse. According to the Child Abuse Prevention Act (CAPTA) of 1996, child abuse and neglect is defined as: â€Å"at a minimum, any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which results in death, serious physical or emotional h... Free Essays on Child Abuse Abuse and Neglect 2 Legally, child abuse is defined as physical of psychological injury that results from adult’s intentional exposure of a child to potentially harmful physical stimuli, sexual acts, or neglect (Sulkes, 1998). Studies have proven that most child abuse cases are higher in most homes that are single-parent and step-parent homes. Most people do not see it as child abuse they might see it as discipline. Child abuse rates in America are very high. Sadly, about 2,000 infants and children die as a result of abuse and/or neglect each year in the United States (Sulkes 1998). Within child abuse there are models for explaining what it pertains. One useful model for explaining abuse classifies its causes into four broad categories: socio-cultural factors, characteristics of the child, characteristics of the abuser, and family stresses (Bittner& Newberger, 1981). The main idea of this model is that episodes of abuse are typically precipitated by everyday interactions between parents and children. In most cases children with mental disabilities and those who have temperaments are more likely to be abused than others. On another aspect of child abuse; the majority child abuse cases, about two-thirds, involve physical injuries (Sulkes, 1998). Stats in the United States never lie. In the United Abuse and Neglect 3 States alone, most cases of child abuse involve children between the ages of 2 and 9 (US. Bureau of the Census, 1997). Now, in these cases of child abuse they may start to have mental issues. In conclusion, I have personally learned a lot. I feel that we as a society can put child abuse to an end. People in this really need to recognize what they are doing to their children and really analyze the long term affect that this will be causing them. We as a nation can do this we just need to come together!... Free Essays on Child Abuse Imagine for one moment that you are not yourself any longer. Visualize instead that you are a young girl; old enough to know right from wrong yet still young enough to be terrified by the dark shadows in your room. It is a cool autumn night and your parents have opted to attend a party which you are not allowed at. â€Å"It will be fine,? they say. Although you already know what is to come. Your uncle comes over to watch you for the evening, and your parents are so pleased by the fact that they do not have to find a sitter. As soon as he arrives, your mother kisses you on the cheek and scurries out the door to join your father already waiting in the car outside. The nightmare begins. His slimy hands casually slide an ebony cartridge into the VCR as he smiles at you seductively. You can feel his eyes worming their gaze through your clothes every time that he looks at you. You feel dirty and violated every time you think about what he does to you when you are alone. He walks over to t he couch and sits down next to you. His hand slithers it way onto your knee and you cringe in revulsion. â€Å"Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you,?he chides. Your mind feels panicky as you feel his touch in more intimate places and you scream involuntarily. His grip tightens as he places his hand over your mouth. â€Å"We’ll have to do this the hard way!?comes his intense whisper. You flail your arms at him, but it doesn’t help. His writhing massive body is on top of yours, and you feel so powerless. Eventually, you sink into a sobbing heap and simply wait for his passions to stop. You wait for the nightmare to end. When he is done, you limp to the laundry room and try fruitlessly to get the blood stains out of your clothes. It is all your fault... Abuse: The violation or defilement of; What you have just experienced is one type of abuse that occurs millions of times every year across America. Estimates of abuse range wildly depending on the source of on es info... Free Essays on Child Abuse Most of us find it difficult to imagine how anyone could abuse infants and children. We can’t comprehend it. It doesn’t to us. In the past, our society has tried to deny it and pretend that such abuse did not exist. However, child abuse has been of the most prominent and acknowledged problems in Americans society. For many years, the enormity of the problem was simply inconceivable. Two factors brought the concerns and difficulties associated with abuse to the forefront of social consciousness. First was admitting the problems of child abuse. The second, acknowledging that abuse is present in families of all cultures, religions, and socioeconomic classes.1Experts now recognize abuse as a severe problem with potentially harmful and even devastating effects on children and adults who were abused children.2 Popular and clinical writings use varying definitions of child abuse. For the most part, child abuse includes physical harmful contact ranging from fondling to rape, neglect of physical well-being, and emotional harm through verbal abuse.3 Often children are victims of several forms of mistreatment. Not every abused child develops emotional or psychiatric problems. However, child abuse does seem to increase the likelihood of several difficulties.4 This may include aggression toward or avoidance of others, hyperactivity, anxiety, emotional withdrawal, mild to severe delays in physical and emotional growth, and sexualized behaviors. 5 Clearly, abuse contributes to a child’s concept of life. This may include a sense of loss of a good and just world, a negative outlook, and a lack of trust in others or self. 6 Children thrive on the sense of the mother and father being good, caring and all powering. When this person is abusive that interferes with the sense of goodness and fairness. Children feel fearful to their parents’ powerfulness.7 They lose their security. This makes these children more vulnerable to other abuses. N... Free Essays on child abuse Child abuse is a very common thing in today's society, although not much is heard about it. The abuse occurs in the home where the bruises can be hidden. The emotional and physical scars are hidden behind clothes, makeup and lies. There are four different types of abuse suffered every day by children all across the world. The four different types are physical, sexual, emotional and psychological. The abuse leaves scars with children for the rest of their lives, physical scars, but the one's that cause the most pain are the emotional scars, the scars that last a lifetime. Child abuse is the intentional use of physical force or intentional omission of care by a parent or caretaker that causes a child to be hurt, wounded, or killed. In Canada the exact statstics of child abuse and neglect is unknown, but is recognized as a major social problem. Under Provincial laws requiring physicians - and encouraging other persons - to report incidents of suspected abuse, more than two million cases of neglect and physical abuse are reported each year. Child abuse covers a wide range of parental actions that results in harm being inflicted on children of all ages. The kind of abuse, however, varies with age. Infants and preschool children are most likely to suffer deliberately inflicted fractures, burns, and bruises. This is known as the battered child syndrome, first identified during the 1960's. Historically, reported cases of sexual abuse, ranging from molestation to incest, primarily involve male perpetrators and school-aged or adolescent female victims. More recently, however, a growing number of pre-school victims have been identified. Perhaps the most consistent type of abuse is neglect - that is, physical or emotional harm resulting from a parent's failure to provide a child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, medical care, education, and moral training. A common symptom of neglect among young children is underfeeding; an und... Free Essays on Child Abuse In Today’s American society we fail to address several issues that need to be solved. Unfortunately, child abuse is one of the major issues that our country is plagued with, yet we neglect to bring this to the attention of the entire nation. It is often over looked because everyone has a different view of what exactly defines child abuse. To set the record straight there are four basic forms of child abuse: emotional abuse, neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse (ICAN). Emotional Abuse (also known as: Verbal abuse, mental abuse, and psychological maltreatment), includes acts or the failures to act by parents or caretakers that have caused or could cause, serious behavioral, cognitive, emotional or mental disorders. This can include parents/caretakers using extreme and/or bizarre forms of punishment, such as confinement in a closet or dark room or being tied to a chair for long periods of time or threatening or terrorizing a child. Less severe acts, but no less damaging are belittling or rejecting treatment, using derogatory terms to describe the child, habitual scape goating or blaming, the child (ICAN). Neglect, which is the failure to provide for the child’s basic needs. Neglect can be physical, educational, or emotional. Physical neglect can include not providing adequate food or clothing appropriates medical care, supervision, or proper weather protection (heating or coats), to the child. Educational neglect can include failure to provide appropriate schooling or special educational needs, allowing excessive truancies, to the child. Psychological neglect is the lack of any emotional support and love, never attending to the child, spousal abuse, drug and alcohol abuse including allowing the child to participate in drug and alcohol use (ICAN). Physical Abuse, is the inflicting of physical injury upon the child. This may include, burning, hitting, punching shaking, kicking beating, or otherwise harming a child. The parent ... Free Essays on Child Abuse Child Labor Child Labour Ingrid Pinto ABC School of Social Sciences Child Labor The 1990 World Summit for children was a landmark, which was attended by 71 heads of state. It was a moment of great satisfaction and encouragement for all the international bodies engaged in their pursuit of making â€Å"A world fit for children†, when 71 heads of state pledged to eradicate polio, reduce infant mortality rate, eliminate the worst forms of child labor and promote vocational training for adolescents.1 Complex Factors There is a popular public opinion that the children should not be exposed to labor tasks including employment at an age, which demands their involvement in educational and recreational activities. The activities undertaken at child age contribute to their growth and development and undertaking labor task at this age is no less than a crime. However, mostly people express this opinion based on strong emotions and the complex factors contributing to this dilemma are not understood in their real background. These factors range from legal, social, political and economic aspects, which extend far beyond the strong emotions. A detailed, careful and empathetic analysis of these factors can lead us to understand the problems of child labor on an international horizon. Powerful legislation, its strict enforcement and the extent of its implementation across the board on an international scale can serve as a foundation in addressing this curse. International studies reveal the magnitude of the grave problem of child labor. A systematic estimate, undertaken in 1985, calculated around 31 million street children worldwide, of whom 71 percent were child workers living at home, 23 percent kept occasional family contact, and 8 percent were entirely separated.2 The contributing factors to the child labor are limitless, however, the vital few factors are external debt, poverty, lack of appropriate infrastructure, economic crisis, and social and ... Free Essays on Child Abuse Running Head: Child Abuse in the Preschool Years Abstract Child abuse can take many forms and has a variety of symptoms. A child who is abused may show all of them or none. It isn’t always easy to tell if a child has been or is being abused. A child also may become resilient. Many times the abuse is a cycle that has started many generations before and each child has learned that it is acceptable to treat their own children like that. It is important that if you suspect abuse to call and inform the appropriate people because otherwise it may go unseen. Child Abuse in the Preschool Years Child Abuse occurs more than many people think it does. It can take many forms such as emotional, sexual, and physical abuse. The effects can last a lifetime. Child abuse can have detrimental effects on cognitive and social development, especially, when it occurs before or during the preschool years of life. Symptoms of Abuse Physical abuse is more frequent for families living in stressful situations, poverty, single-parent households, and high levels of marital conflict. A few warning signs of physical abuse are: injuries that have no reasonable explanation, burns from cigarettes or immersion of hot water, fear of adults or care providers, inappropriate attire in warm weather, and fear of physical contact. Many times abuse occurs because parents or caregivers are insensitive to the child’s emotional or behavioral levels. They have unreasonably high expectations for their children (Feldman, 2003). Psychological abuse occurs when parents or caregivers harm children’s behavioral, cognitive, emotional, or physical functioning. Psychological abuse also includes neglect. The caregivers make the child feel like they are a burden to them and the child may be threatened with abandonment or even death. Neglect is ignoring or being emotionally irresponsive to the child. Psychological ab... Free Essays on Child Abuse The key word in the definition of child abuse is deliberate. Why would anyone deliberately do something like that to their own child? In 2001, 3 million referrals concerning the welfare of approximately 5 million children were made to Child Protective Service agencies throughout the United States. Professionals, including teachers, law enforcement officers, social services workers, and physicians, made more than half of the reports. Others, including family members, neighbors, and other members of the community, made the remaining referrals. More than one-quarter of investigations or assessments 28 percent resulted in a finding that the child was abused or at risk of abuse. The remaining investigations resulted in a finding that the abuse did not occur, the child was not at risk of abuse, or the information wasn’t good enough. Approximately 903,000 children were to be victims of child abuse. Not in just physical but in, medical neglect, sexual abuse, and psychological. To get these numbers down, there are lots of things us as a country can do. We can start by letting kids be kids, and being parents to kids not their friend, but not their worst enemy. Most States define perpetrators of child abuse or neglect as a parent or other caretaker, such as a relative, babysitter, or foster parent, who has abused a child. Fifty-nine percent of perpetrators were women and 41 percent were men. The median age of female perpetrators was 31 year, the median age of male perpetrators was 34 years. More than 80 percent of victims were abused by a parent or parents. The 2001 victimization rate of 12.4 per 1,000 children in the population is comparable to the 2000 rate of 12.2, especially given that the child population base numbers were estimated. Both the 2000 and 2001 rates are lower than the 1998 rate. The 1999 rate is considered an outlier that was unduly influenced by the census population estimates. Children in the age group of birth to ... Free Essays on Child Abuse There are millions of children being abused every year. Child abuse doesn’t necessarily have to be physical, it can be mental, emotional, or sexual abuse; it can even be neglect. Abuse doesn’t only affect the child being abused, but it also affects the people witnessing the abuse. Child abuse can affect the child in many different ways. The worst way the child can be affected is suicide. Every child abuse case is different in its own way. Child abuse can lead to problems and suffering, but it is not always that simple. Every child will have a different way of dealing with it that they think is all right because they have been raised only knowing this. Common effects of child abuse include: Nightmares or difficulty sleeping; low self-esteem; antisocial behavior, including rebelliousness or running away; increased hostility; or aggression. Feelings of fear, shame, anger, guilt, anxiety, or confusion are often found in a child that is being abused. The child will tend to stay away from other children and play by himself. A child that is abused will most likely be abused until they are a teenager and will usually find themselves in an abusive relationship later in life, if they’re not being abused they will usually be the abuser. The child will most likely be effected by the abuse their whole lives, and will need therapy at some point in their lives. But most cannot afford it so they live with the thoughts of being abused all their lives. Many people are not aware of the long-term effects abuse can have on a child. Whether a child experiences abuse or witnesses it, the effects often affect the physical, intellectual, and emotional growth of the child. April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. It is a time organizations try to make the public aware that there are children being abused everyday. During this month organizations try to educate people on how to bring healing to those who are being abused. Infants and toddlers (0 - 2 ½... Free Essays on Child Abuse Children have been abused throughout the world for many years. Child abuse is any â€Å"physical or mental† (Rench 163) behavior that endangers the development severity or survival of a child. It is the guardians’ betrayal of trust and authority over a child and the child’s well being. Any serious risk of harm to a child, can be considered child abuse. Some types of child abuse, that children face each day are: physical, sexual, neglect and emotional abuse. Day by day children who are abused have many questions, but no answers, one in particular is â€Å"why†. Children are abused because guardians think that they must use whatever type of discipline necessary to country a child’s behavior to feel justified. In doing so, they relinguish their guilt in the â€Å"name of discipline† (Abuse Child, 1 of 1). Caregivers may not understand the skills necessary to meet the need of a child. Some kids are not cared for in the right way because they were not wanted in the first place. Parents may have been exposed to the same abuse and have not learned have to raise their child. Children can also be abused by stressed caregivers. Children of all ages from babes to teenagers are abused. It occurs in any kind of home and in all types of ethnicity, religion, social and economic background. Abuse has no limits to any age group. Children of all ages may be at risk. Three year olds are often faced with neglect, while teenagers are more likely to be physically abused. Any â€Å"deliberate application† (Abuse, 1 of 1) of force to any part of a child’s body. Children who are physically abused, can also face emotional abuse. Physical abuse can include : slapping, punching, burning, hitting, pushing, biting, shaking, choking, kicking or even poisoning a child. Any harmful or dangerous use of force, can lead a child to have a very low self esteem. Emotional abuse is denying a child love or affection. Children are also being neglected and not gi... Free Essays on Child Abuse Many children suffer at the hands of adults - often their own parents. They are beaten, kicked, thrown into walls, and/or burned with cigarettes. They have their heads held under the water of toilet bowls, are scalded by hot water or they are forced to stand in freezing showers until they pass out. A child could be stuffed into running washing machines or sexually molested, suffer from neglect in the forms of starvation and lack of medical attention, and still go unnoticed by outsiders. In fact, it is estimated that three children die every day in the U.S. alone from one form of child abuse or another. It is a sickening practice that has no set standard of rules to finish off the persisting problem. Different states have different methods and agencies to help prevent abuse in the home, some work quite well while others bomb - a dangerous gamble when it comes to the life or mental state of a child. The precise number of deaths each year is not known because of the extent of most fatal ity investigations that could be suspected as child abuse but are seen as open and shut death cases. A report from the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, however, depicts more than three million reports of alleged child maltreatment practices in the year of 1995 alone. Many more children are living with abuse rather than dying from it, too. So what steps are being taken to protect our nation's children? All states have a Child Protective Services (or CPS) system. This is the governmental system responsible for investigating reports of child abuse or neglect. In state after state, the CPS agency lacks the resources to respond adequately to the overwhelming number of reports it is legislatively mandated to investigate. All fifty states have child abuse reporting laws requiring reports of suspected abuse to be made by specified professionals and others whose work brings them into regular contact with children. Any citizen may report suspected abuse as ... Free Essays on Child Abuse Child Abuse Child Abuse is a big problem among America today. I very disappointed that I didn’t get to hear the speaker on child abuse. Being in the field of education, I will be around children every day, and need to pay close attention to how the children act, look, and feel. As I was going through high school, a girl in my school became pregnant. She seemed to not care about the life she was carrying. While being pregnant she still continued to drink and smoke. Many people may not think of drinking while pregnant is child abuse, but IT IS. Her baby was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, also known as FAS, a leading cause of mental retardation. There is no sure for these birth defects, which can range form severe problems to the less visible problems like paying attention in school. Being that I watched a baby be brought into the world who would have disabilities that weren’t it’s fault, I truly despise parents who allow this to happen. Child Abuse and neglect can not always be seen. As a teacher to children, I need to be aware of the warning signs. A few key warning signs are: Nervousness around adults, aggression toward adults or other children; sudden, dramatic changes in personality for extended periods, and low self-esteem. When a child is being abused at home, it very rare they will come to an adult and ask for help. There are ways to reach out and help them through it. One way to reach out is to; be a friend to a parent you know, by asking how their children are. If the parent seems to be upset of struggle in their answering offer to baby-sit, just show you understand. Another way is to talk to your neighbors about looking out for one another’s children. Encourage a supportive spirit among parents. Getting involved within community is a big key with helping understand and comfort children and parents. In order for children to grow up healthy mentally and physically parents need to nurture the...

How Many Nanometers in a Meter

How Many Nanometers in a Meter SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you’re interested in studying a field such as biology or computer engineering, knowing how to convert nanometers to meters (or nm to m) will be a vital skillto have. In this guide, we'll go over exactly what a nanometer is and what it measures. We’ll then give you three methods you can use for converting nm to m. Finally, we’ll provide you with a chart that shows various conversions from nanometers to millimeters, centimeters, decimeters, and more. What Is a Nanometer? A Meter? Nanometers and meters are both units of measurement that are used to measure length. A meter (m) is the basic unit of length in the International System of Units, or what is typically known as the metric system. One meter is equivalent to approximately 3.28 feet in the Imperial system, which is used in the United States and a smattering of other countries. A nanometer (nm) is equal to one-billionth of a meter.Theprefix "nano" literally means one-billionth. Written out, one nanometer looks like 0.000000001 m (that’s nine zeros!). It can be a little long to write out fully, though, so another option is to use exponents. A calculator will most likely show you1e-9for one-billionth, meaning1 * 10-9. So if you’d rather write out one-billionth using exponents, you could do 1 * 10-9, or even just 10-9. To help you understand the relationship between nm and m, let’s look at an analogy provided by the National Nanotechnology Initiative: "If the diameter of a marble [were] one nanometer, then [the] diameter of the Earth would be about one meter." That’s a gigantic difference and goes to show just how much bigger one meter is compared to one nanometer! What Are Nanometers Used to Measure? One nanometer is so small, it’s invisible to the human eye.Nanometers are generally used to measure microscopic things, both man-made and natural, such as molecules, atoms, and the tiny components used in computer processors. Your fingernails grow about 1 nm each second. That’s around 86,400 nm each day- but that’s still such a small length that you wouldn’t even notice it! Still not understanding just how small a nanometer really is? Imagine a ruler. You probably have a decent grasp of how big a centimeter is. Remember that 10 millimeters fit into one centimeter, so millimeters are already pretty small. Now listen to this: there are one MILLION nanometers in just one millimeter! The following chart will give you a better idea of how many nanometers there are in various things you can (and cannot!) see with the naked eye in the world around you: Specimen Length in Nanometers Dust mite 200,000 nm Sheet of paper (thickness) 100,000 nm Human hair (thickness) 80,000-100,000 nm Red blood cell 7,000-8,000 nm Bacterium 2,500 nm Nanoparticle (diameter) 4 nm Human DNA (diameter) 2.5 nm Atom 0.1-0.2 nm 3 Methods for Converting Nanometers to Meters There are a few ways you can convert nm to m. We go over each of these below. Method 1: Set Up a Conversion Equation The first conversion method is to set up an equation. Recall that 1 m is equivalent to 1,000,000,000 nm. To use this nm-to-m method, you’ll want to write this as a fraction: $${1 \m}/{1,000,000,000 \nm}$$ Let’s say you were given a measurement of 12,358 nm. To convert this to meters, all you need to do is multiply the measurement in nm by the conversion factor (the fraction above). Here is what this would look like written out: $$12,358 \nm=12,358{1/1,000,000,000}$$ $$12,358 \nm=0.000012358 \m$$ If you wanted to convert a measurement from m to nm, simply flip the conversion factor upside down so that it looks like this: $${1,000,000,000 \nm}/{1 \m}$$ Because the denominator is 1, this fraction is the same as 1,000,000,000. Therefore, you canjust multiply your measurement in m by 1,000,000,000 to get its conversion in nm. Method 2: Move the Decimal Another method you can use for converting nm to m is moving the decimal over.Nanometers and meters are based on units of 10 (like the whole of the metric system), so converting between units is really about moving the decimal. Because 1,000,000,000 nm equals 1 m, converting from nanometers to metersconsists of simply moving the decimal point to the left nine places. Let’s look at an example. Say you have a dust mite that is205,449.13 nm in length. To convert this measurement to meters, all you have to do is move the decimal point to the left nine places: By doing this, you should get the following: $205,449.13 \nm=0.00020544913 \m$ If you have a whole number, such as 682 nm, the decimal point will be after the last number (think of it like 682.0 nm), so you’ll start from there before moving it to the left nine places to get your conversion, which in this case would be 0.000000682 m. Method 3: Use an Online Conversion Tool The final nm-to-m conversion method you can use is an online conversion tool. Many websites offer free conversion tools you can use to quickly and accurately convert a certain measurement from nanometers to meters. All you need to do is input the measurement in nm and you’ll be given the conversion in m instantly. Available conversion tools we recommend using include The Calculator Site, which offers a helpful reference chart, and FormulaConversion.com, which lets you see the conversions right as you add, subtract, and/or change numbers. You can use any online nm-to-m conversion calculator, just as long as it’s accurate. If you’re not sure whether the answer the tool gives you is correct or not, try one of the two methods above to double-check your answer. Can you figure out how many nm are in 20 km? How Many Nanometers Are in a Meter?In a Kilometer? It's definitely helpful toknow how to convert nm to m, but what about converting nanometers to centimeters? To micrometers? To kilometers? The following chart gives a brief overview of various conversions, all the way from nm to km: Measurement Conversion in Nanometers 1 kilometer (km) 1,000,000,000,000 nm(one trillion) 1 hectometer (hm) 100,000,000,000 nm(one hundred billion) 1 decameter/dekameter (dam/dkm) 10,000,000,000 nm(ten billion) 1 meter (m) 1,000,000,000 nm(one billion) 1 decimeter (dm) 100,000,000 nm(one hundred million) 1 centimeter (cm) 10,000,000 nm(ten million) 1 millimeter (mm) 1,000,000 nm(one million) 1 micrometer (ÃŽ ¼m/um) 1,000 nm(one thousand) 1 nanometer (nm) 1 nm What’s Next? Trying to study for SAT Math? Then take a look at our expert guide to the SAT Math section and learn how you can get a perfect score on it. Curious about how Celsius converts to Fahrenheit? Our in-depth guide walks you through the #1 trick to know so that you can quickly convert between these temperature units. How do you convert decimals to fractions? And what about cups to quarts? Read our guides to learn all the tips and tricks out there!