one liter (1000cm3) of oil is spiled onto a smooth lake. if the oil spreads out uniformly until it makes an oil slick justone molecure thick, with adjcent molecules just touching estimate the diameter of the oil slick. Assume the oil molecules have a diameter of 2X10-10 m.

Answer 1

Assuming the oil molecules fill the entire space, then the thickness of the film is the diameter of the molecules: 2*10^-10 m = 2*10^-8 cm

1000cm^3 / 2*10^-8cm = 5*10^10 cm^2

That's the area of the oil slick.

a = pi/4 d^2, so the diameter d of the slick is

d = √(4*5*10^10/pi)
= 2*10^5/pi √5
= 252313 cm
= 2.52 km

wow. Seems kind of large. Better check my math.