Question

A tree loses water to the air by the process of transpiration at the rate of 110 g/h. This water is replaced by the upward flow of sap through vessels in the trunk. If the trunk contains 2000 vessels, each 100 mm in diameter, what is the upward speed of the sap in each vessel? The density of tree sap is 1040 kg/m3.
The answer is 187 nm/s. Although, I don't know how they got that answer because my numbers and units are different.

Answer 1

Answer:

The answer is 1.87nm/s.

Explanation:

The $110g/hr$  water loss must be replaced by $110g/hr$ of sap. 110g of sap corresponds to a volume of  

$110g \div \dfrac{1040*10^3g}{1*10^6cm^3} = 106cm^3$

thus rate of sap replacement is

$106cm^3/hr = 106*10^{-6}m^3/3600s = 2.94*10^{-8}m^3/s$

The volume of sap in the vessel of length $x$ is

$V = Ax$,

where $A$ is the cross sectional area of the vessel.

For 2000 such vessels, the volume is

$V = 2000Ax$

taking the derivative of both sides we get:

$\dfrac{dV}{dt} = 2000A \dfrac{dx}{dt}$

on the left-hand-side $\dfrac{dx}{dt}$ is the velocity $v$ of the sap, and on right-hand-side $\dfrac{dV}{dt} = 2.94*10^{-8}m^3/s$; therefore,

$2.94*10^{-8}m^3/s=2000Av$

and since the cross-sectional area is

$A = \pi (\dfrac{100*10^{-3}m}{2} )^2 = 7.85*10^{-3}m^2$;

therefore,

$2.94*10^{-8}m^3/s =2000(7.85*10^{-3}m^2)v$

solving for $v$ we get:

$v = \dfrac{2.94*10^{-8}m^3/s}{2000(7.85*10^{-3}m^2)}$

$\boxed{v =1.875*10^{-9}m/s = 1.875nm/s}$

which is the upward speed of the sap in each vessel.