Question

Cholesterol in blood is measured in milligrams of cholesterol per deciliter of blood. If the unit of measurement were changed to grams of cholesterol per milliliter of blood, what would a cholesterol reading of \(185 \mathrm{mg} / \mathrm{dL}\) translate to?

Short answer

Question: Convert a cholesterol reading of 185 mg/dL to g/mL. Answer: A cholesterol reading of 185 mg/dL is equivalent to 0.00185 g/mL.

Step-by-step solution

Convert the mass of cholesterol from mg to grams

To convert the cholesterol reading from mg to grams, we need to use the conversion factor 1 g = 1000 mg. We have 185 mg of cholesterol, so we will divide it by 1000 to get the mass in grams: $$\frac{185\,\mathrm{mg}}{1000} = 0.185\,\mathrm{g}.$$

Convert the volume of blood from dL to mL

Next, we need to convert the volume of blood from dL to mL using the conversion factor 1 dL = 100 mL. 1 dL of blood is given, so we will multiply it by 100 to get the volume in mL: $$1\,\mathrm{dL} \times 100 = 100\,\mathrm{mL}.$$

Calculate the cholesterol reading in g/mL

Now that we have the mass of cholesterol in grams and the volume of blood in mL, we can find the cholesterol reading in g/mL by dividing the mass by the volume: $$\frac{0.185\,\mathrm{g}}{100\,\mathrm{mL}} = 0.00185\,\mathrm{g/mL}.$$ So, a cholesterol reading of 185 mg/dL translates to 0.00185 g/mL.