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How to visualize one part per million - Kim Preshoff + The TED-Ed Community

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“Parts per million” is a scientific unit of measurement that counts the number of units of one substance per one million units of another. But because it’s hard to conceptualize really large numbers, it can be difficult to wrap our brains around what “one part per million” really means. Kim Preshoff (with help from 100+ animators from the TED-Ed Community) shares nine helpful ways to visualize it.

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Let’s think of the fingers on your hands as people - so, ten fingers represent ten people. How big of a group of friends would have to gather together to represent a million people using fingers?

About TED-Ed Animations

TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Educator Kim Preshoff
  • Script Editor Eleanor Nelsen
  • Sound Designer Stephen LaRosa
  • Narrator Julianna Zarzycki

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