Physics 3333 / CFB 3333 Homework 7


The gram molecular mass of water is 18 grams per mole. This is because a water molecule contains two hydrogen atoms (one proton each) and one oxygen atom (8 protons and 8 neutrons), for a total of 18 nucleons. Avogadro's number is the number of water molecules needed to obtain a mass of 18 grams. Avogadro's number is experimentally determined to be 6.022142 x 1023. The density of water is 1 gram per milliliter.

  1. What is the mass of 9 moles of water?
  2. What is the volume of 9 moles of water?
  3. Could you comfortably drink 9 moles of water at one time?
  4. Suppose that you mixed 9 moles of water with 1 mole of "rhus toxicodendron" (poison ivy extract) to create a 1X solution. If you selected one molecule at random from the mixture, what are your chances of selecting a molecule of rhus toxicodendron?
  5. How many molecules of 1X solution would you need to ingest to be fairly sure of getting at least one molecule of rhus toxicodendron?
  6. Now imagine diluting the mixture to one part of 1X solution and nine parts water. This is a 2X solution. If you selected one molecule at random from the mixture, what are your chances of selecting a molecule of rhus toxicodendron?
  7. How many molecules of 2X solution would you need to ingest to be fairly sure of getting at least one molecule of rhus toxicodendron?
  8. Continue the dilution procedure. Don't forget to succuss (or shake) the solution ten times (or is it four times?) in each direction. Create a 30X solution. If you selected one molecule at random from the mixture, what are your chances of selecting a molecule of rhus toxicodendron?
  9. How many molecules of 30X solution would you need to ingest to be fairly sure of getting at least one molecule of rhus toxicodendron?
  10. What volume of solution is this?
  11. Could you comfortably drink this much at one time?
  12. Look at this web site Homeopathy Home Remedy Shop - Single Remedies for the dilutions typically used. For example: 30X means a serial dilution of 1 to 10 made thirty times (1 part medicine to 1030 parts water); 200C means a serial dilution of 1 to 100 made two hundred times (1 part medicine to 10400 parts water).
  13. The current best estimate for the number of subatomic particles in the Universe is 1080. How many Universes would you need to ingest to ensure that you got one molecule of medicine from a 200C solution?
  14. See if you can figure out what the notations 1M, CM, LM, MM, and MMM represent. I looked at several web sites and can not find consistency in the definitions. (Big surprise!)
Homeopathy for pets! I wonder if Sonya the Pet Psychic would approve?

Homeopathy Responding to Crisis - Anthrax, Smallpox and Terrorism

Hand in the assignment on paper, send it to pseudo@physics.smu.edu, or turn in a disk or CD.