Question

A molecular biologist measures the mass of cofactor a in an average yeast cell. the mass is 41.5 pg . what is the total mass in micrograms of cofactor a in a yeast colony containing 105 cells? write your answer as a decimal.

Answer 1

The unit pg stands for pictogram. It is one-trillionth of a gram. Because of the very small mass, it is expressed in the prefix form of the base units for convenience. Now, the mass of cofactor a is 41.5 pg per cell. Since there are a total of 105 cells, the total mass would be:

Total mass = 105 cells * 41.5 pg/cell = 4,357.5 pg