Question

A sesame seed has an average mass of 4 x 10^-3 g.Approximately 50% of a sesame seeds mass can be extracted as sesame oil.Use this information to work out how many sesame seeds you would need in order to extract 8.6 x 10^2 g of sesame oil.Give your answer in standard form.

Answer 1

To extract 8.6 x 10^2 grams of sesame oil, you would need 4.3 x 10^5 sesame seeds, as each seed can yield 2 x 10^-3 grams of oil.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate how many sesame seeds are needed to extract 8.6 x 102 grams of sesame oil, consider that each sesame seed has a mass of 4 x 10-3 grams and approximately 50% of its mass can be extracted as oil. This means each seed can yield 2 x 10-3 grams of oil. The number of seeds required is the total desired mass of oil divided by the mass of oil per seed.

First, express the total mass of oil needed in grams: 8.6 x 102 grams. Now, divide this by the mass of oil obtainable per seed:

Number of seeds = Total mass of oil ÷ Mass of oil per seed
Number of seeds = ((8.6 x 102) ÷ (2 x 10-3))
The number of seeds required = 4.3 x 105 seeds