Question

Part BIn liposuction, a doctor removes fat deposits from a person's body. If body fat has a density of 0.909 g/mL and 3.8 L of fat is removed, how many pounds of fat are removed from the patient? Express your answer using two significant figures.

Answer 1

First, we have to remember that density is a property that matches the mass and the volume of a determined substance.

$\rho=\text{ }\frac{mass}{volume}$

If we have the volume and the density of the fat deposits, we can calculate the mass by clearing the equation as follows:

$\begin{gathered} volume\text{ * }\rho\text{ = mass} \\ \\ 3.8\text{ L *}\frac{1000\text{ mL}}{1\text{ L}}*\text{ 0.909 }\frac{g}{mL}=\text{ 3454.2 g } \\ \end{gathered}$

And now, we can calculate the pounds by using a conversion factor:

$3454.2\text{ g *}\frac{1\text{ lb}}{453.592\text{ g}}=\text{ 7.6152 lb }\approx\text{ 7.6 lb}$

Then, the removed mass of fat is 7.6 lb approx.