Question #e3623

1 Answer
Aug 10, 2015

The answer is b) 6 g

Explanation:

Start by writing the balanced chemical equation for this neutralization reaction

#NaOH_((aq)) + HCl_((aq)) -> NaCl_((aq)) + H_2O_((l))#

Notice that you have a #1:1# mole ratio between sodium hydroxide and hydrochloic acid; this means that a complete neutralization would require equal numbers of moles of sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid.

Now, you know that the hydrochloric acid solution has a normality of 0.1 N. Normality is simply a measure of reactivity, meaning that it is calculated by taking into account how a substance behaves in a particular reaction.

Hydrochloric acid dissociates in aqueous solution to rpoduce

#HCl_((aq)) -> H_((aq))^(+) + Cl_((aq))^(-)#

The net ionic equation for your reaction will be

#OH_((aq))^(-) + H_((aq))^(+) -> H_2O_((l))#

In your case, a 0.1 N solution means that the hydrochloric acid solution provides 0.1 moles of protons, #H^(+)#, per liter to the reaction.

Since 1 mole of #"HCl"# produces 1 mole of #H^(+)#, the molarity of the solution will be equal to #"0.1 mol/L"#.

The volume of the solution will be

#1500color(red)(cancel(color(black)("cm"^3))) * ("1 dm"""^3)/(1000color(red)(cancel(color(black)("cm"^3)))) = "1.5 dm"""^3#

This means that you can now calculate how many moles of hydrochloric acid took part in the reaction (remember that #"1 dm"^3 = "1 L"#)

#C = n/V implies n = C * V#

#n_"HCl" = 0.1 "moles"/color(red)(cancel(color(black)("L"))) * 1.5color(red)(cancel(color(black)("L"))) = "0.15 moles HCl"#

The aforementioned mole ratio tells you that the number of moles of sodium hydroxide needed to neutralize this many moles of hydrochloric acid is

#n_(NaOH) = n_(HCl) = "0.15 moles"#

To get the mass of sodium hydroxide needed, use its molar mass

#0.15color(red)(cancel(color(black)("moles"))) * "40.0 g"/(1color(red)(cancel(color(black)("mole")))) = color(green)("6 g")#