in an experiment to estimate the size of a molecule of olive oil, a drop of oil of volume 0.12cm3 was placed on a clean water surface. The oil spread on a patch of diameter 6.0multiplied by 10^6mm2. calculate the size of the molecule

Answer 1

To estimate the size of a molecule of olive oil, we can use the equation:

molecule size = (pi x diameter^2) / (number of molecules in the drop)

First, we need to convert the diameter from mm to cm:

diameter = 6.0 x 10^6 mm^2 / pi x 10 mm/mm = 1.91 cm

Next, we need to calculate the number of molecules in the drop of oil. We know the volume of the drop is 0.12 cm^3, and the density of olive oil is approximately 0.92 g/cm^3. Therefore, the mass of the drop is:

mass = volume x density = 0.12 cm^3 x 0.92 g/cm^3 = 0.11 g

We also know the molar mass of olive oil is approximately 882 g/mol, and Avogadro's number is 6.02 x 10^23 molecules/mol. We can use these values to calculate the number of molecules in the drop:

number of molecules = (0.11 g / 882 g/mol) x (6.02 x 10^23 molecules/mol) = 7.60 x 10^20 molecules

Now we can plug in our values to the equation and solve for molecule size:

molecule size = (pi x 1.91 cm^2) / (7.60 x 10^20 molecules) = 2.51 x 10^-8 cm

Therefore, the estimated size of a molecule of olive oil is 2.51 x 10^-8 cm.