Question

The element californium (cf) sells for $1000 per µg. assuming 6.02 x 1023 atoms of cf have a mass of 251 grams, how many atoms of cf could you buy for 1 u.s. penny?

Answer 1

Answer:-
`2.40*10^1^0atoms`

Solution:- It is a simple unit conversion problem. We could solve this using dimensional analysis.

We know that, 1 US dollar = 100 cents

1 cent = 1 US penny

So, 1 US dollar = 100 US pennies

`1g=10^6\mu g`

Let's make the set up starting with 1 penny as:

`1penny(($1)/(100pennies))((1\mu g)/($1000))((1g)/(10^6\mu g))((6.02*10^2^3atoms)/(251g))`

=
`2.40*10^1^0atoms`

Therefore, we can bye
`2.40*10^1^0atoms` of Cf in one US penny.