Question

Prudhoe Bay, in Alaska, contains an estimated 9.6 x 10ˆ9 barrels of oil. If 1 barrel is exactly 42 gallons, determine the volume of oil in Prudhoe Bay in mˆ3?

a) 1.61 x 10^7 m^3
b) 4.03 x 10^10 m^3
c) 4.03 x 10^4 m^3
d) 1.5 x 10ˆ9 mˆ3

Answer 1

To find the volume of oil in Prudhoe Bay in cubic meters, you convert the barrels to gallons and then to cubic meters, resulting in an approximate volume of 1.5 x 10⁹ m³.

Step-by-step explanation:

The volume of oil in Prudhoe Bay in m³ is determined by first converting the 9.6 x 10⁹ barrels to gallons and then converting that volume to cubic meters (m³). Since 1 barrel is exactly 42 gallons, the total volume in gallons is 9.6 x 10⁹ barrels * 42 gallons/barrel = 403.2 x 10⁹ gallons.

To convert gallons to cubic meters, use the conversion factor that 1 gallon is approximately 0.00378541 m³. Thus, the total volume in cubic meters is 403.2 x 10⁹ gallons * 0.00378541 m³/gallon = 1.525 x 10⁹ m³. The closest answer to this result is d) 1.5 x 10⁹ m³.