Convert 0.251 L/min to units of microliters per hour.
The correct answer and explanation is:
Let’s convert 0.251 liters per minute (L/min) to microliters per hour (µL/hr) step-by-step.
Step 1: Understand the units
- 1 liter (L) = 1,000,000 microliters (µL)
- We want to convert from per minute to per hour.
Step 2: Convert liters to microliters
Given flow:
0.251 L/min
Convert liters to microliters:
0.251 L × 1,000,000 µL/L = 251,000 µL/min
Step 3: Convert minutes to hours
There are 60 minutes in 1 hour. So, multiply the flow rate per minute by 60 to get flow rate per hour:
251,000 µL/min × 60 min/hr = 15,060,000 µL/hr
Final answer:
0.251 L/min = 15,060,000 µL/hr
Explanation
Unit conversions like this involve understanding the relationship between different scales of volume and time units.
- Volume Conversion:
- Liters and microliters differ by a factor of one million.
- Since 1 L = 10^6 µL, multiplying liters by 1,000,000 converts volume from liters to microliters.
- Time Conversion:
- The flow rate is given per minute but needs to be expressed per hour.
- Since there are 60 minutes in an hour, multiplying the flow rate by 60 converts from “per minute” to “per hour”.
- Putting It All Together:
- Multiply the initial flow (in liters/min) by 1,000,000 to get microliters/min.
- Then multiply by 60 to get microliters/hour.
This is a straightforward example of unit conversion using dimensional analysis — a fundamental technique in science and engineering to ensure that quantities are expressed correctly and consistently. It’s very common in fields like medicine, chemistry, and fluid dynamics where you need precise control of flow rates and volumes.