Acadia Winter Watershed Geochemistry

Friday, January 12, 2007

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?

Link to article

Here's a link to the article about the class, FYI:
http://ellsworthmaine.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6035&Itemid=85