Question

Many medical laboratory tests are run using 5.0μL blood serum. What is this volume in milliliters?

5.0μL:______mL
a) 0.005mL
b) 0.0050mL
c)0.005mL:0.0052mL
d) 0.0052mL

Answer 1

5.0 microliters (5.0μl) is equal to 0.005 milliliters (0.005 mL), with the final answer reflecting two significant figures as presented in the original measurement. This leads us to choose answer option b) 0.0050mL.

Step-by-step explanation:

To convert the volume from microliters (μl) to milliliters (mL), you need to use the conversion factor where 1 milliliter is equal to 1,000 microliters. Therefore, 5.0μl is equal to 0.005 mL, because 5.0 divided by 1,000 gives 0.005.

To provide the most accurate conversion, we should match the number of significant figures in the original measurement. The original measurement was given as 5.0μl which has two significant figures, so the converted measurement should also have two significant figures if possible. This leads us to choose answer option b) 0.0050mL.