If you could line up the nuclei of lead-208, approximately how many nuclei would you need to line up in order for them to form a line 1 inch long? A) 82 B) 208 C) 8.2 x 10⁷ D) 1.6 x 10¹²

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The diameter of a lead-208 nucleus is approximately 7.2 x 10^-15 meters. To form a line 1 inch long, we need to convert this to inches and then divide 1 by that value:

(7.2 x 10^-15 meters) / (0.0254 meters/inch) = 2.83 x 10^-16 inches/nucleus

1 inch / (2.83 x 10^-16 inches/nucleus) = 3.53 x 10^15 nuclei

Rounding to the nearest power of 10 gives us 1.6 x 10^16, or choice D.

If You Could Line Up the Nuclei of Lead-208, Approximately