A biotech company produces a solution with an active biomass of 8.7604x10^6 cells per litre of solution. The solution is shipped by tanker truck with a volume of 4.16462x10^1 m3. How many cells are being sent per shipment, expressed to three significant figures?
Convert the meters cubed to liters. Divide 8.7604x10^6 by how many liters the tanker truck can hold. Easy peasy :)
To find out how many cells are being sent per shipment, we need to calculate the total number of cells in the solution and then multiply it by the volume of the tanker truck.
First, let's calculate the total number of cells in the solution:
Number of cells = active biomass × volume of solution
Number of cells = 8.7604x10^6 cells per liter × (4.16462x10^1 m3 * 1000 L/m3)
Number of cells = 8.7604x10^6 cells per liter × 4.16462x10^4 liters
Number of cells = 3.6475x10^11 cells
Now, let's multiply the total number of cells by the volume of the tanker truck:
Number of cells per shipment = 3.6475x10^11 cells × 4.16462x10^1 m3
Number of cells per shipment = 1.5173x10^13 cells
Therefore, the number of cells being sent per shipment, expressed to three significant figures, is 1.52x10^13 cells.