Nanotechnology, the field of trying to build ultrasmallstructures one atom at a
ID: 691284 • Letter: N
Question
Nanotechnology, the field of trying to build ultrasmallstructures one atom at a time, has progressed in recent years. Onepotential application of nanotechnology is the construction ofartificial cells. The simplest cells would probably mimic red bloodcells, the body's oxygen transporters. For example, nanocontainers,perhaps constructed of carbon, could be pumped full of oxygen andinjected into a person's bloodstream. If the person neededadditional oxygen-due to a heart attack perhaps, or for the purposeof space travel-these containers could slowly release oxygen intothe blood, allowing tissues that would otherwise die to remainalive. Suppose that the nanocontainers were cubic and had an edgelength of 25 nanometers. A)What is the volume of one nanocontainer?(Ignore the thickness of the nanocontainer's wall.)(liters)Express your answer using two significant figures. D)What is the minimum number of nanocontainers that a person wouldneed in their bloodstream to provide 1 hour's worth ofoxygen? Express your answer using two significant figures. E)What is the minimum volume occupied by the number ofnanocontainers computed in part D? Express your answer using two significant figures. Vmin=_________L F)Is such a volume feasible, given that total blood volume in anadult is about 5 liters? Yes or no
Explanation / Answer
(A) Hopefully you know that volume = (side length)3 for acubic object. Also, 1x107 nm = 1 cm. The volume of thenanocontainer is then: Volume = (25 nm * [1 cm / 107nm])3 = (2.5x10-6cm)3 = 1.5625x10-17cm3 * [1 mL / 1 cm3] = 1.5625x10-17mL * [1 L / 1000 mL] = 1.6x10-20 L (B) Oxygen capacity = 1.6x10-20L * 81 g/L = 1.3x10-18 g (If you're unsure how to proceed with question like this, look atthe units of the data you have and see how you can divide/multiplythem to give the units you want.) (C) Oxygen per breath = 0.50 L air / breath * 0.28 gO2/L air = 0.14 g O2 / breath Oxygen per minute = 0.14 g O2/ breath * 20breaths / min = 2.8 g O2 / min Oxygen per hour = 2.8 gO2/ min * 60min / hr = 170 g O2 / hr (D) From part (B), each nanocontainer can have up to1.3x10-18 g of oxygen, and we need 170 g ofO2. Nanocontainers needed = 170 g O2 / (1.3x10-18g O2 /nanocontainer) = 1.3x1020 nanocontainers (E) From part (A), each nanocontainer has a volume of1.6x10-20 L. Vmin = 1.3x1020nanocontainers *1.6x10-20 L /nanocontainer = 2.1 L (F) Depends on what the question means by 'feasible'. Yes, thenanocontainers could fit in the volume of blood. However, bygetting rid of blood in favour of nanocontainers you might begetting rid of too much of the other essential components containedin the blood (for example, iron). 2.1 L is after all a fairly largefraction of the 5 L blood volume.
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