Question

Taking the mass of the atmosphere to be 5.7E15 metric tons, what mass of carbon must
be burned in order to increase the average carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere
by 150ppm by volume (in metric tons)?
what equations do i use?

Answer 1

First, think. What volume of CO2 is 150ppm?

massCO2=150*10^-6 * 5.7E15 tons
change that to grams.

Then I would figure out the percent C in CO2.

Then multiply the mass of CO2 by the percent of C in CO2

Finally, you have it.