In the Densest Molecular Clouds, the Average Density Is Approximately

Essay

In the densest molecular clouds, the average density is approximately 300 atoms/cm³.If a cube of molecular cloud gas with this density contained 100 M_SUN of material (the amount needed to make a 1 M_SUN star), what would be the length of a side of the cube in units of AU? For reference, the mass of the Sun is 2 *10³⁰ kg, the mass of a hydrogen atom is 1.7 *10 ^{- 27} kg, and 1 AU = 1.5 *10¹¹ m.