Question

A fictional cubed-shaped bacterium, Bacterius cubis, occupies a volume of 2.0 femtoliters. This particular type of bacteria is known to communicate with its own species by secreting a small molecule called bactoX ( MW=126.9 g/mol ). A. Each bacterium contains 7140 bactoX molecules that can be secreted. How many moles of bactoX are present in a 3.0 μL sample volume that contains 7.512×106 bacterial cells?

Answer 1

There are
`\mathbf{8.90172 * 10^(-14)}` moles of bactoX present in a 3.0 μL sample volume that contains 7.512×106 bacterial cells

Step-by-step explanation:

Given that:

The number of molecules present in one bacterial cell is
`7.140 * 10^3` molecules

and the sample contains
`7.512 * 10^6` molecules.

Number of moles = number of molecules /Avogadro's number

where;

Avogadro's number = 6.023 × 10²³

Number of moles =
`(7.140 * 10^3)/(6.023 * 10^(23))`

Number of moles =
`1.185 * 10^(-20)` moles

So;
`1.185 * 10^(-20)` moles is present in one bacteria cell

Similarly; the sample contains
`7.512 * 10^6` molecules.

Therefore; the number of moles present in the bactoX is =
`1.185 * 10^(-20) * 7.512 * 10^6`

=
`\mathbf{8.90172 * 10^(-14)}` moles