Question

You are hired as the investigators to identify the root cause and describe what should have occurred based on the following information. The mass of jet fuel required to travel from Toronto to Edmonton is 22,300 kg. The fuel gage correctly indicated that the plane already had 7,682 L of jet fuel in the tank. The specific gravity of the jet fuel is 0.803. Using this information, the crew added 4,916 L of fuel and took off, only to run out of fuel and crash a short while later. Use your knowledge of dimensions and units to work out what went wrong.

Answer 1

Answer:

The mass of fuel added, which is 10,166.2 kg is less than 22,300 kg which is the mass of fuel required to travel from Toronto to Edmonton, the plane therefore crashed.

Explanation:

Since density ρ = m/v where m = mass of fuel and v = volume of fuel, we need to find the mass of each volume of fuel.

So, m = ρv now ρ = specific gravity × density of water = 0.803 × 1000 kg/m³ = 803 kg/m³.

To find the mass of the 7,682 L of fuel, its volume is 7,682 dm³ = 7,682 dm³ × 1 m³/1000 dm³ = 7.682 m³.

It's mass, m = 803 kg/m³ × 7.682 m³ = 6168.646 kg

To find the mass of the extra 4,916 L of fuel added, we have

m' = ρv' where v' = 4,916 L = 4,916 dm³ = 4916 dm³ × 1 m³/1000 dm³ = 4.916 m³

m' =  803 kg/m³ × 4.916 m³ = 3947.548 kg

So, the total mass of the fuel is m" = m + m' = 6168.646 kg + 3947.548 kg = 10116.194 kg ≅ 10,166.2 kg

Since this mass of fuel added, which is 10,166.2 kg is less than 22,300 kg which is the mass of fuel required to travel from Toronto to Edmonton, the plane therefore crashed.