Final answer:
Particle sizes transported by water are categorized from smallest to largest as clay, silt, sand, gravel, cobbles, and boulders. Specific contexts like sediment transport and biological particles such as phytoplankton provide examples of varying particle sizes.
Step-by-step explanation:
Particle Sizes in Water Transport
To rank the particle sizes transported by water from smallest to largest, one needs to understand the typical classification of particle sizes in a geological context. For instance, clay particles are the smallest and would be at the top of the list. The sizes increase through silt, then sand, and gravel is larger still, followed by cobbles and boulders as the largest particles transported by water.
Based on the informational snippets provided, particle sizes in suspensions are mentioned as over 1000 nm, suggesting larger particles. Additionally, phytoplankton are mentioned to range in size from a few micrometers to as much as 2 millimeters, which provides an example of the varying sizes of biological particles that can be transported by water. In sediment grain size analysis, different size ranges are separated out, from the very small (<63 μm) to larger fractions. In the context of a lab exercise, visual estimates are cautioned against, recommending sieves for fraction separation and quantitative analysis.