Question

A fictional cubed-shaped bacterium, Bacterius cubis, occupies a volume of 2.0 femtoliters. This particular type of bacteria is known to communicate with its own species by secreting a small molecule called bactoX ( MW=126.9 g/mol ). A. Each bacterium contains 7140 bactoX molecules that can be secreted. How many moles of bactoX are present in a 3.0 μL sample volume that contains 7.512×106 bacterial cells?

Answer 1

Answer:

There are  $\mathbf{8.90172 \times 10^{-14}}$ moles of bactoX present in a 3.0 μL sample volume that contains 7.512×106 bacterial cells

Explanation:

Given that:

The number of molecules present in one bacterial cell is $7.140 \times 10^3$ molecules

and the sample  contains $7.512 \times 10^6$ molecules.

Number of moles = number of molecules /Avogadro's number

where;

Avogadro's number = 6.023 × 10²³

Number of moles = $\dfrac{7.140 \times 10^3}{6.023 \times 10^{23}}$

Number of moles = $1.185 \times 10^{-20}$ moles

So;  $1.185 \times 10^{-20}$ moles  is present in one bacteria cell

Similarly;  the sample  contains $7.512 \times 10^6$ molecules.

Therefore; the number of moles present in the bactoX is = $1.185 \times 10^{-20} \times 7.512 \times 10^6$

= $\mathbf{8.90172 \times 10^{-14}}$ moles