CEV 420

Chapter 1: Exercise
(Level of difficulty: C3 - C4)

a) Maximum contaminant level (MCL) according to the US EPA for 2,3,7,8-TCDD (dioxin) in drinking water is
0.00000003 mg L-1. Convert this concentration to ppt and molarity (M). Molar mass for dioxin is 322 g mol-1.

[Ans: 0.03 ppt; 9.32 x 10-14 M]

b) A 100 g sample of soil is analysed for the chemical solvent trichloroethylene (TCE). The analysis indicates that the
sample contains 5 g of TCE. Determine the TCE concentration in parts per million.
[Ans: 0.05 ppm]

c) A gas mixture contains 0.005 mol sulfur dioxide (SO2) and 0.995 mole of air. What is SO2 concentration, expressed
in unit of ppm?

[Ans: 5000 ppm]

d) A 250 m L-1 sample of mineral water has 12.7 ppm of benzene. The contaminated mineral water is a very dilute
aqueous solution. Given the molar mass of benzene is 78.114 g mol-1, determine:

i) The molarity of the mineral water.

ii) The mass of benzene in the mineral water (in grams).
iii) The concentration of benzene in the mineral water in ppb and ppt.

[Ans: 1.62 x 10-4 M; 3.175 x 10-3 g; 1.27 x 104 ppb; 1.27 x 107 ppt]

e) A 2 kg sample of soil is analyzed for the chemical solvent trichloroethylene (TCE). The analysis indicates that the
sample contains 10 mg of TCE. Given the molecular weight of TCE is 131.5 gmol-1.

i) Calculate the TCE concentration in ppm and ppb.

ii) Convert the concentration of TCE to unit of molarity (molL-1).
[Ans: 5000 ppb; 3.8 x 10-5 mol L-1]

f) The concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in polluted air is 0.085 ppm. Compute this concentration in units of
gm-3 at 1 atm pressure and temperature of 25C. Molar mass of NO2 is 46 gmol-1.
[0.163 ug m-3]

g) An SO2 concentration is given as 830 ug m-3 at 25oC and 1 atm. Express this concentration in ppm.

[Ans: 0.32 ppm]

h) Carbon monoxide concentration at 90 oC and 6 atm is 90 ug m-3. Expree this concentration in ppm.
[Ans: 0.016 ppm]

i) A 5 ml vial of benzene was spilled in a 400 m3 laboratory. Given that the density of benzene is 0.8 g mL-1 and molar
mass of benzene is 78 g mol-1. Calculate the concentration of benzene spilled in ppm.
[Ans: 3.08 ppm]

j) Calculate the pressure of ozone in M and ppmv at the tropopause (15 km, 217 K) given that [O3] = 1012 molecule
cm-3 , and P total = 0.12 bar.

[Ans: 0.26 ppmv]