Question

If the amount of mercury in a polluted lake is 0.4 µg Hg/mL, what is the total mass in kilograms of mercury in the lake? (The lake has a surface area of 100mi^2 and an average depth of 20 ft.)

I'll probably be able to solve this once I know what it's going on about. Is this micrograms per hectogram per milliliter? I'm just not sure what it means by "0.4 µg Hg/mL".

Answer 1

Never mind, Hg is mercury. Someone helped me offsite.

Answer 2

Change the surface of area from 100 mi^2 to cm^2 and the 20 ft to cm. Then surface area x depth = volume in cm^3 = mL. Then you have 0.4 x 10^-6 grams Hg/mL. Post your work if you get stuck.