Question

Calculate the mass percent of phosphorus in a strand of DNA that consists of equal amounts of each of the four N-bases.

Answer 1

To calculate the mass percent of phosphorus in a strand of DNA that consists of equal amounts of each of the four N-bases, you need to consider the molecular formula of DNA and the atomic mass of phosphorus. Once you have the total mass of DNA, you can calculate the mass percent of phosphorus using the formula: Mass percent of phosphorus = (mass of phosphorus / total mass of DNA) * 100%

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the mass percent of phosphorus in a strand of DNA that consists of equal amounts of each of the four N-bases, we need to consider the molecular formula of DNA and the atomic mass of phosphorus.

The molecular formula of DNA is C5H10O4P, which means there are 4 oxygen atoms (O), 5 carbon atoms (C), 10 hydrogen atoms (H), and 1 phosphorus atom (P) in each nucleotide.

The atomic mass of phosphorus (P) is approximately 30.97 grams per mole.

To calculate the mass percent of phosphorus, we can use the following formula: Mass percent of phosphorus = (mass of phosphorus / total mass of DNA) * 100%

Since we know that there are equal amounts of each of the four N-bases in the DNA strand, we can assume that the total mass of DNA is the same as the mass of one nucleotide. Therefore, the total mass of DNA is the sum of the atomic masses of all the atoms in one nucleotide.

Atomic mass of C: 12.01 grams per mole

Atomic mass of H: 1.01 grams per mole

Atomic mass of O: 16.00 grams per mole

Using the molecular formula of DNA and the atomic masses of each element, we can calculate the total mass of DNA:

Total mass of DNA = (5 * atomic mass of C) + (10 * atomic mass of H) + (4 * atomic mass of O) + (1 * atomic mass of P)

Once we have the total mass of DNA, we can calculate the mass percent of phosphorus:

Mass percent of phosphorus = (atomic mass of P / total mass of DNA) * 100%

By plugging in the values, we can calculate the mass percent of phosphorus in the DNA strand.

Answer 2

8.62%

Step-by-step explanation:

The DNA is composed of the grouping of the nucleotides, which are composed of one phosphate group (PO₄⁻²), one molecule of sugar ( deoxyribose), and one N-base, which can be adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine.

Let's assume as a calculus basis, 1 mol of the compound, and, because it has the same amount of each N-base, 1 molecule of each N-base nucleotide.

The molar mass of phosphate is 95 g/mol, the molar of the deoxyribose is 134 g/mol, the molar mass of adenine is 135 g/mol, of guanine, is 151 g/mol, of cytosine is 111 g/mol, and of thymine is 126 g/mol.

So, the molar masses of the nucleotide of each N-base are:

Adenine: 95 + 134 + 135 = 364 g/mol

Guanine: 95 + 134 + 151 = 380 g/mol

Cytosine: 95 + 134 + 111 = 340 g/mol

Thymine: 95+ 134 + 126 = 355 g/mol

Thus, the mol with one of each of these N-bases has mass 1439 g (364 + 380 + 340 + 355). The molar mass of phosphorus is 31 g/mol, so 1 mol has 31 g. Each nucleotide has one phosphorus, so the total mass of phosphorus is 124 g (4*31).

The percent of phosphorus is then:

(124/1439)*100% = 8.62%