Calculating the Total Gold in Earth's Oceans: A Step-by-Step Solution

Given:

• Gold concentration: 4.0 × 10⁻¹⁰ g/mL
• Ocean volume: 1.5 × 10²¹ L = 1.5 × 10²⁴ mL

Calculation:

Mass = (4.0 × 10⁻¹⁰ g/mL) × (1.5 × 10²⁴ mL) = 6.0 × 10¹⁴ g

Result: ~6.0 × 10¹⁴ grams (600 billion metric tons) of gold dissolved in the oceans.

Note: The original prompt had a volume unit inconsistency (mL vs L); the corrected calculation uses consistent units.