This problem can help you to think about the size of molecules. In the city of Beijing a restaurant keeps a pot of chicken broth simmering continuously. Every morning it is topped up to contain 10.0 L of water, along with a fresh chicken, vegetables, and spices. The soup is thoroughly stirred. The molar mass of water is 18.0 g/mol.
(a) Find the number of molecules of water in the pot.
(b) During a certain month, 90.0% of the broth was served each day to people who then emigrated immediately. Of the water molecules in the pot on the first day of the month, when was the last one likely to have been ladled out of the pot?
(c) The broth has been simmering for centuries, through wars, earthquakes, and stove repairs. Suppose the water that was in the pot long ago has thoroughly mixed into the Earth’s hydrosphere, of mass 1.32 X 1021 kg. How many of the water molecules originally in the pot are likely to be present in it again today?