Hypernatremia is a medical condition where a patient has high levels of sodium in their blood, and is the result of the body containing too little water. A patient has a measured sodium level of 165 mM. If 30.0 mL of their blood were drawn, what mass (in ng) of sodium would be present?

• A. 1.14x10⁷ ng
• B. 1.14x10⁶ ng
• C. 1.14x10⁸ ng
• D. 4.18x10⁸ ng
• E. 4.18x10⁶ ng

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. First, understand that the sodium concentration is given in millimoles per liter (mM), which means millimoles of sodium per liter of blood.
2. Convert the volume of blood drawn from milliliters to liters. Since 1 liter = 1000 milliliters, divide the volume in milliliters by 1000.
3. Calculate the number of millimoles of sodium in the drawn blood by multiplying the concentration (in mM) by the volume (in liters). This gives you the amount of sodium in millimoles.
4. Convert the amount of sodium from millimoles to moles by dividing by 1000, since 1 mole = 1000 millimoles.
5. Finally, convert the amount of sodium from moles to nanograms. Use the molar mass of sodium (approximately 23 grams per mole) to find the mass in grams, then convert grams to nanograms by multiplying by 1x10^9 (since 1 gram = 1x10^9 nanograms).