5.00 lb of mercury is spilled onto a counter and forms a circular puddle with a diameter of 67.2 cm. Assuming the puddle is cylindrical shape, what is the thickness of the puddle of mercury?
Extra info: [1 lb = 435.6 g. Mercury is a liquid metal having a density of 13.6 g/mL. Volume = π(d/2)^2h]
Convert the mass of the puddle to grams.
A spill this size requires a report to your state Hazmat team.
area*thickness*density= massHg
PI(67.2/2)^2*T*13.6g/cm^3= 5lb*435.6g
solve for T
As a physics undergraduate at MIT I broke a cold trap (brings pressure down to minimum in a vacuum system by condensing out gas molecules on the mercury which is sitting in liquid nitrogen) and spilled a similar quantity of Hg. It indeed caused a major response by the health physics team and that was in 1959 when the scientific community was far less attentive to environmental hazards.
To convert the mass of the puddle from pounds to grams, you can use the given conversion factor:
1 lb = 435.6 g
First, let's convert the mass of the puddle from pounds to grams:
Mass in grams = 5.00 lb * 435.6 g/lb
Calculating this, we have:
Mass in grams = 2178 g
So, the mass of the puddle is 2178 grams.