Chemistry 1001
Recitation Problem #1
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INSTRUCTIONS: Come prepared to answer a quiz based on these problems. They may be
discussed during recitation prior to the quiz, and there may be some preparation first.
These problems also serve as a basis for midterm and final exams.
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1. The US population was estimated 4 years ago as 301,786,000 people. The CIA estimates
China’s population (July 2009) as 1,338,612,968. Express the ratio of people in China to
people in the USA to the correct number of significant digits using standard decimal
notation.
2. Rewrite your answer to the first problem using scientific notation.
3. Add the number of people in the USA to the number of people in China from Problem #1
and express the result, to the correct number of significant digits, as an integer.
4. Rewrite your answer to Problem 3 using scientific notation.
5. Perform this calculation to the correct number of significant digits and report the answer
as a decimal number:
( 2.7  108  8.573 ) + 82
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6. How many bytes are in a 500 Gbyte computer disk? Write your answer with zeroes and in
exponential notation.
Answer using zeroes
Using exponential notation
7. A sack of potatoes for your potato gun weighs 43 pounds on earth. Estimate its mass on the
moon, where gravity is about 1/6 that of earth. Express your answer in grams.
The mass is: _____________ grams
8. A 392-foot homerun smash over the centerfield wall is how long in meters and miles?
The length is: ____________ meters
The length is:_____________ miles
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