Answer: 130 ppm Pb
Explanation:
We use parts per million to express the concentrations of solutions that contain very, very small amounts, often called trace amounts, of a given solute.
More specifically, a solution's concentration in parts per millions tells you the number of parts of solute present for every
10
6
=
1
,
000
,
000
parts of solution. You can thus say that a
1 ppm
solution will contain exactly
1 g
of solute for every
10
6
g
of solution.
In your case, you know that you have
38
mg Pb
⋅
1 g
10
3
mg
=
3.8
⋅
10
−
2
.
g Pb
in exactly
300.0 g
=
3.000
⋅
10
2
.
g solution
This means that you can use this known composition as a conversion factor to scale up the mass of the solution to
10
6
g
10
6
g solution
⋅
3.8
⋅
10
−
2
.
g Pb
3.000
⋅
10
2
g solution
=
130 g Pb
Since this represents the mass of lead present in exactly
10
6
g
of solution, you can say that the solution has a concentration of
concentration
ppm
=
130 ppm Pb
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
The answer is rounded to two sig figs, the number of sig figs you have for the mass of lead present in the sample.
