Final answer:
To estimate the mass of Earth's oceans, we multiply the volume of the oceans (1.5 × 10¹¸ m³) by the density of water (1000 kg/m³), resulting in a mass of approximately 1.5 × 10¹¸ kilograms.
Step-by-step explanation:
Estimating the mass of the Earth's oceans requires using the density of water and the volume of the oceans. Given that the density of water is 1 g/cm³ (which is equivalent to 1000 kg/m³), and understanding that 1 cubic centimeter (cm³) of water has a mass of 1 gram (g), we can confirm that this is equal to 1000 kilograms (kg) per cubic meter (m³), since there are 1,000,000 cm³ in a cubic meter. If we have the volume of the Earth's oceans as 1.5 × 10¹¸ m³ of water, we can calculate the mass by multiplying the volume (V) by the density (p) of water.
The calculation is as follows: Mass = Density × Volume, which leads to Mass = 1000 kg/m³ × 1.5 × 10¹¸ m³. Therefore, the mass of the Earth's oceans is approximately 1.5 × 10¹¸ kilograms.