Counting Atoms

ADVERTISEMENT

Integrated Science
Name _________________
Counting Atoms
Background: You know that atoms are small. In fact, the aluminum atom that is part of
-8
aluminum foil has an approximate diameter of 0.00000001 cm (l x l0
cm). How many
atoms thick is the aluminum foil? If atoms were the size of Cheerios, how long would a
chain would the equivalent number of Cheerios make?
Here is the equation that you will
need to find part of the answer:
Number of Atoms = Thickness of foil (cm)
divided by thickness of one aluminum atom (.00000001 cm)
Materials and Equipment
aluminum foil
electric balance
centimeter ruler
cereal pieces
Procedure - Part One
1. Measure the length and width of your piece of aluminum using cm. Record in Step 4 below.
2. Find its mass in grams. Record below in step 3.
3
3. Find its volume in cubic centimeters (cm
) by using its density. The density of aluminum is
3
2.7 g/cm
. Use the following formula:
3
3
Volume (cm
) = Mass / 2.7 g/cm
3
3
Volume = ________ g / 2.7 g/ cm
= _________ cm
4. Find its area in square centimeters (cm
2
).
Area
=
length
x width
2
Area = _______ cm x ________ cm = __________cm
5. Divide the volume by area to find the thickness:
Thickness = Volume / Area
Thickness = _________ / __________ = ___________ cm
6. Now use the equation given in the Background above and calculate how many atoms thick a
piece of aluminum foil is.
-8
Number of atoms = Thickness / 1 x 10
= _______________ atoms
Procedure - Part Two
1.
Count out 100 Cheerios. Line them up across the floor.

ADVERTISEMENT

00 votes

Related Articles

Related forms

Related Categories

Parent category: Education
Go
Page of 2