A biochemist carefully measures the molarity of salt in 99.7 mL of photobacterium cell growth medium to be 54.0 mM.
Unfortunately, a careless graduate student forgets to cover the container of growth medium and a substantial amount of the solvent evaporates. The volume of the cell growth medium falls to 49.7 mL. Calculate the new molarity of salt in the photobacterium cell growth medium.
Be sure your answer has the correct number of significant digits.
To calculate the new molarity of salt in the photobacterium cell growth medium, we first need to calculate the amount of salt in the original solution and the new solution.
Original solution:
Molarity (M) = moles of solute / volume of solution in L
moles of solute = Molarity x volume of solution in L
moles of solute = 54.0 x 99.7 x 10^-3
moles of solute = 5.37 mmol
New solution:
Molarity = moles of solute / volume of solution in L
moles of solute = 5.37 mmol
volume of solution in L = 49.7 x 10^-3
Molarity = 5.37 / 49.7 x 10^-3
Molarity = 108 mM
Therefore, the new molarity of salt in the photobacterium cell growth medium is 108 mM.