How many moles of each atom are present in a #1.01*g# mass of antifreeze, #C_3H_6O_3#?

2 Answers
Jan 27, 2018

Got a Periodic Table...?

Explanation:

#"Molar quantity"="Moles of stuff"/"Molar mass of stuff"#

And the mole is just a very large number, like a dozen or a gross. For the first problem, we simply calculate the molar mass of sodium chloride.... The Periodic Table tells you that the molar mass of carbon is #12.01*g*mol^-1#, and that of hydrogen is #1.00794*g*mol^-1# and that of oxygen is #16.00*g*mol^-1#...and we simply add these together to get the molar mass of #C_3H_6O_3#....

#"Molar mass of "C_3H_6O_3-=(3xx12.011+6xx1.00794+3xx16.00)*g*mol^-1=90.0*g*mol^-1#.

The table specifies a #1.01*g# mass of antifreeze, and so we take the defining quotient....

#"Moles of"# #C_3H_6O_3-=(1.01*g)/(90.0*g*mol^-1)=0.0112*mol#.

All I am doing is adding up the masses of each mole of atoms, and then taking a quotient. Do you follow?

Jan 27, 2018

Explanation:

First, let's figure out the molar mass for everything!
Molar mass is just the mass of #1# mole of that particular compound. To find it, we add the individual element molar masses.

  1. #NaCl# is #"58.44 g/mol"#, because #Na + Cl = "22.99g + 35.45g" = "58.44g"#

  2. #KCl# is #"74.55 g/mol"#.

  3. #C_3H_6O_3# is #"90.08 g/mol"#, because #3*C + 6*H + 3*O = 3*"12.01g" + 6*"1.008g" + 3*"16.00g"= "90.08g"#

  4. #Na(CH_3)_2AsO_2*3H_2O# is #"214.0 g/mol"#. It looks intimidating, but it's the same principle—we just need to add up the individual element masses! :)
    #(Na + 2*(C+3*H) + As + 2*O) + 3*(2*H+O) = (22.99 + 2*(12.01+3*1.008) + 74.92 + 2*16.00) + 3*(2*1.008+16.00)#

  5. #CaCl_2*2H_2O# is #"147.0 g/mol"#, because, again, we just need to add the molar mass of #CaCl_2#, which is #111.0#, with the mass of #2# moles of water, which is #"36.04g"#

  6. #KH_2PO_4# is #"136.1 g/mol"#.

Now, let's go over to the second column.
To determine the number of moles from any given mass, just divide the mass of that sample by the mass of #1# mole.

#"number of moles" = "mass of sample"/"mass of 1 mole"#

  • #"1.01g"# of #C_3H_6O_3# would be
    #1.01/90.08 = "0.0112 moles"#

  • #"0.15 g"# of #CaCl_2*2H_2O# would be
    #0.15/147.0 = "0.0010 moles"#

  • #"1.4 g"# of #KH_2PO_4# would be
    #1.4/136.1 = "0.010 moles"#

Let's fill in the second column.

Finally, the third column.
We used this equation for converting from mass to moles:

#"number of moles" = "mass of sample"/"mass of 1 mole"#

We can slightly alter this equation to make it suit column #3#, #"mass of sample" = "number of moles"*"mass of 1 mole"#

  • #"0.14 moles"# of #NaCl# is
    #0.14 * 58.44 = "8.2g"#

  • #"0.0050 moles"# of #KCl# is
    #0.0050 * 74.55 = "0.37g"#

  • #"0.0262 moles"# of #Na(CH_3)_2AsO_2*3H_2O# is
    #0.0262 * 214.0 = "5.61g"#