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The mass of hydrogen atom is 1.67x10⁻²4 grams. The mass of a nitrogen atom is 2.32x10⁻²3 grams. What is the ratio of the mass of a hydrogen atom to the mass of a nitrogen atom?

1) 1:10
2) 1:100
3) 1:1000
4) 1:10000

User Graftak
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1 Answer

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Final answer:

The ratio of the mass of a hydrogen atom to the mass of a nitrogen atom when calculated is approximately 1:14, which doesn't match any of the given options. Thus, the closest option is 1:100, but this is a conservative estimate.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the ratio of the mass of a hydrogen atom to the mass of a nitrogen atom, we divide the mass of one by the other.


Mass of hydrogen atom = 1.67 x 10⁻²⁴ grams

Mass of nitrogen atom = 2.32 x 10⁻²³ grams


Ratio = Mass of hydrogen atom / Mass of nitrogen atom
= (1.67 x 10⁻²⁴) / (2.32 x 10⁻²³)


To avoid dealing with decimals, we can express both numbers in scientific notation with the same exponent:

= (1.67 / 23.2) x 10⁻¹


The ratio in its simplest form is 1.67 / 23.2, which when calculated is approximately 0.072. This number is closest to the fraction 1/14 when expressed as a ratio. Therefore, the most suitable option among the choices given is 1:14, but this is not one of the options provided in the question.

All the options provided are incorrect. If the only choices are the ones given, there is no correct option, as the actual ratio doesn't match any of them. However, the ratio that approaches most closely would be 1:100 when rounding conservatively.

User Gema Sanchez
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