Question

large doses of vitamin c are supposed to cure the common cold. one commercial over - the - counter product consists of 500.0 - mg tablets that are 20.0% by weight vitamin c. how many tablets should one take for a 0.77 g dose of vitamin c? assume that the tablets can be accurately divided. therefore express your answer to the correct number of significant figures.

Explanation:

Step1: Convert mass units

First, convert the mass of vitamin - C dose from grams to milligrams. Since \(1\ g = 1000\ mg\), then \(0.77\ g=0.77\times1000\ mg = 770\ mg\).

Step2: Calculate the mass of vitamin C in one tablet

The mass of one tablet is \(m_{tablet}=500.0\ mg\), and the percentage of vitamin C in one tablet is \(20.0\%\). So the mass of vitamin C in one tablet, \(m_{VC - per - tablet}=500.0\ mg\times0.200 = 100\ mg\).

Step3: Calculate the number of tablets

Let \(n\) be the number of tablets. We know that \(n=\frac{m_{total - VC}}{m_{VC - per - tablet}}\). Substitute \(m_{total - VC}=770\ mg\) and \(m_{VC - per - tablet}=100\ mg\) into the formula, we get \(n=\frac{770\ mg}{100\ mg}=7.7\).

Answer:

7.7