University Physics with Modern Physics (14th Edition)

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0321973615
ISBN 13: 978-0-32197-361-0

Chapter 1 - Units, Physical Quantities, and Vectors - Problems - Exercises - Page 30: 1.57

Answer

The number of atoms in a human body is about $6\times10^{27}$ atoms.

Work Step by Step

The most common type of atoms in the human body is oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen . About 65.0% of the mass of our body is oxygen , 18.5% is carbon , 9.5% is hydrogen , 3.2% is nitrogen and the rest are other atoms. Now, the atomic masses are : Oxygen=15.999u , Carbon=12.011u , Hydrogen = 1.008u , Nitrogen=14.007u where u=atomic mass unit=$1.661\times10^{-27}$ Assuming that the mass of the person be 70kg .The approximate number of atoms in the human body is obtained as Number of atoms=$\frac{70\times\frac{65.0}{100}}{15.999\times1.661\times10^{-27}}+\frac{70\times\frac{18.5}{100}}{12.011\times1.661\times10^{-27}}+\frac{70\times\frac{9.5}{100}}{1.008\times1.661\times10^{-27}}+\frac{70\times\frac{3.2}{100}}{14.007\times1.661\times10^{-27}}$ $\approx6\times10^{27}$ Therefore ,the number of atoms in a human body is about $6\times10^{27}$ atoms.
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