How many atoms are there in a can of beer?

Answer 1

hmm.. every can of beer.. let see.. they're not exactly equal. no two cans of beer has the same number of atoms. but they have the same number of 'kinds' of atoms.

Answer 2

1 mole of any substance contains 6x10^23 molecules
that is 6 with 23 0´s after it
1 mole of water (beer is mainly water) weighs 18g
(1 oxygen atomic weight 16, 2 hydrogen atomic weight 1)
a standard tinny here contains 330cl = 330 grams
330 / 18 = 18 1/3 = number of moles in a can
so there are 109x10^23 water molecules.
each water molecule is 3 atoms
so there are 327x10^23 atoms of water in a can
add say another 5-7% for the alcohol and flavorings
then all we need to know is the weight of Aluminum/steel there is to find the number of atoms for the can.

I think i had better go and drink a beer! only to find the weight honest.

Answer 3

Beer is mostly water. one mole of water is 18.016 g.
The rest of the stuff could be dissolved (including the CO2) and I am going to assume that beer has the same density as sea water (1.026). So, for each mole of water, the equivalent 'mole' of beer weighs 18.5 g.
I also assume that the remaining atoms and molecules have the same average atomic mass as water.

A mole of water has 6.023 x 10^23 molecules of water, or 1.8 x 10^24 atoms (2 H and 1 O per molecule). A mole of beer therefore has 1.8*1.026 x 10^24 = 1.85 x 10^24 atoms.

A can of beer is (approx.) 350 ml, which, at a density of 1.026, weighs almost 360 g, giving us (360/18.5)*1.85x10^24 atoms.
3.6 x 10^25 atoms (less, of course, if you are having American light beer)
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36,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
Using the short scale (USA + some English speaking countries)
36 octillion

Using the long scale (rest of the world)
36 quadrillion (million^4)

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Famous drinking song:
36,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms of beer in the can,
36,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms of beer;
I lose the one, it is now gone
35,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999 atoms of beer in the can.

35,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999 atoms of beer in ...

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There are a little less than 32 million seconds in a year. If you could sing 36 million steps of this song in a year (very fast singing), then it would take 10^18 years -- the present age of the Universe is less than that. And that is slow drinking...

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I did the calculation using 6.023 x 10^23 instead of the more correct 6.0221415 × 10^23. You redo the calculations; I'm too drunk after well over 1,300 atoms of beer...

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My assumption about the density could be wrong. CO2 may take up some space even when dissolved, so that the density of beer could be less than 1.026 (culd even be less than 1).

In that case, if the real density is d, your answer becomes:
(d/1.026)*36 guzzillions.

Answer 4

A few more than a small glass of beer, but proportionally less than in a pint of beer.

Answer 5

Its not the atoms that get you drunk, its the molecules. Does that win most nerdy answer?

Answer 6

To quote Carl Sagan, "Billions and billions".

Answer 7

Enough to get you drunk, but they pale in comparison to hard liquor. LIQUOR SUPREMECY!