Environmental scientists calculating pollutant half-lives often define a transpo
ID: 912264 • Letter: E
Question
Environmental scientists calculating pollutant half-lives often define a transport rate constant that is analogous to a reaction rate constant and describes how a pollutant moves out of an ecosystem. In a study of the gasoline additive MTBE in Donner Lake, California, scientists from the University of California, Davis, found that in the summer the half-life of MTBE in the lake was 22 days. Assume that the transport process is first order. What was the transport rate constant of MTBE out of Donner Lake during the study? Express your answer in reciprocal days.Explanation / Answer
Given that the transport rate of the pollutant MTBE in ecosystem is analogous to the rate of chemical reaction.
Also given that transport of MTBE follows first order reaction. Hence all the formulas for first order reaction will also be applicable for the transport of MTBE.
Given the half - life for the transport of MTBE, t1/2 = 22 d
For first order reaction, half-life, t1/2 and transport rate constant, k are related as
k = 0.693 / t1/2 = 0.693 / 22 d = 0.0315 d-1 (answer)
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