Question

You have a 500Kg sample of Magnesium Chloride (MgCl2). What is the amount of Chlorine present in the sample in grams?

Answer 1

300,000 grams of Chloride.

Explanation:

Magnesium, in atomic mass units, is 24.31 amu. Chlorine is 35.45 amu. As such, for a single molecule of Magnesium Chloride, there will be 70.90 amu of Chlorine, and 48.62 amu of Magnesium, combining to 119.52 amu for the whole molecule. From this:

`70.90/119.52 = 0.59~`

As in, 59% of the sample will be chloride.

`500 kg * .59 = 296.6 kg`

Hence, 296.6 kilograms of Chloride.

However, round to significant figures, and you get 300 kilograms of Chloride. Convert to grams to get a grand total of:

300,000 grams of Chloride.