Math problem: calculating concentration
OK math whizzes: what is a microgram of mercury? Let's sort this out:
How many micrograms in a gram?
How many micrograms are there in, say a typical mercury thermometer?
An average thermometer contains 1 gram of mercury (note: Maine has tried to get mercury thermometers out of circulation; new ones contain alcohol instead).
If you broke a mercury thermometer in a lake that was 50 feet deep, 100 feet diameter, and perfectly round (and hemispherical), and if 1 cubic centimeter of water = 1 milliliter, what would be the concentration of mercury in the lake, in micrograms per liter?
How many micrograms in a gram?
How many micrograms are there in, say a typical mercury thermometer?
An average thermometer contains 1 gram of mercury (note: Maine has tried to get mercury thermometers out of circulation; new ones contain alcohol instead).
If you broke a mercury thermometer in a lake that was 50 feet deep, 100 feet diameter, and perfectly round (and hemispherical), and if 1 cubic centimeter of water = 1 milliliter, what would be the concentration of mercury in the lake, in micrograms per liter?
3 Comments:
There are 1,000,000 micrograms in a gram.
Which means that if there is one gram of mercury in a thermometer then there are 1,000,000 micrograms of mercury in a thermometer.
By Andrea Jarrett, At January 12, 2007 4:31 PM
There are 1,000,000 micrograms in one gram, so that means if an average thermometer contains 1 gram of mercury than is has 1,000,000 micrograms of mercury in it.
By Ashley Chenevert, At January 14, 2007 6:50 PM
OK, so there are 1,000,000 ug/g, how many liters are in the lake?
And then how many nanograms in a microgram?
By Sarah Nelson, At January 14, 2007 8:14 PM
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