How many atoms are in 1 cm cubed of a solid?

Question

How many atoms are in 1 cm cubed of a solid?

Answer 1

It depends on the density of the solid.  But basically, you use the Avogadro number  - if a solid has an atomic mass of X, then there are 6.022 * 10^23 atoms in X grams of that subtance.

I'll use diamond as an example.  A diamond is pure carbon, and carbon has atomic weight of 12.  So, 12 grams of carbon have 6.022 * 10^23 atoms.  The density of diamond is about 3.5 grams per cubic centimetre, so the number of carbon atoms in 1 cubic cm of diamond is 3.5/12 * 6.022 * 10^23 = 1.75642*10^23 atoms

= 175 642 000 000 000 000 000 000 atoms

Answer 2

Find out what it's made of.  Then multiply the weight of the cube in grams by Avogadro's number (6.022*10^23), divide by the weight of one molecule, and multiply by the number of atoms in a molecule.