ISSUE: To understand the enormity of Avogadro's number, answer the following question:

Here we find how many moles of sand grains are in the Sahara Desert. The Sahara is about 3100 miles east-to-west and 1200 miles north-to-south, or roughly the same size as the 48 contiguous states of the United States. How many moles of sand grains are needed to cover this desert to a depth of 10 feet? Assume that each grain is a cube 1/100 of an inch on edge, typical for fine sand.

E-mail your answers to: jhastings@sjdccd.cc.ca.us

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