Units Dimensions and Conversions

"An experiment is performed in which exactly 2.3 gallons of 
fluid is heated and the temperature at which the fluid boils is noted
as 253°.  Restate this finding using SI units (cubic meters and K)."

Solution Steps:

We need the two conversion equations:

1 gallon = .00378533 m³
5/9 * (F - 32) + 273.15 = K

Converting gallons gives:

Converting °F to K gives:

5/9 * (253 - 32) + 273.15 = 395.927778

Notice that the temperature conversion is different from the mass conversion. We are given an equation to plug the given temperature into! Be careful with the parentheses; performing the operations in the wrong order will give the wrong answer, so be sure to either use the parenthesis buttons on your calculator or work inside of the parentheses first.

Now, let's state the answer using appropriate sig figs, since these are measurements:

"An experiment is performed in which .0087 m³ of fluid is heated and the temperature at which the fluid boils is noted as 396K."

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Developed by

Shodor
in cooperation with the Department of Chemistry,
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill