How many moles of sodium ions are present in a 50.0 g sample of NaCl?
Do I use avagadros number?
To determine the number of moles of sodium ions present in a sample of NaCl, you will indeed need to use Avogadro's number. However, you need to consider that NaCl consists of both sodium (Na) and chloride (Cl) ions.
First, you need to calculate the number of moles of NaCl in the 50.0 g sample. To do this, divide the mass of NaCl by its molar mass. The molar mass of NaCl is the sum of the atomic masses of sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl), which can be found on the periodic table.
- The atomic mass of sodium (Na) is approximately 22.99 g/mol.
- The atomic mass of chlorine (Cl) is approximately 35.45 g/mol.
So, the molar mass of NaCl is (22.99 g/mol) + (35.45 g/mol) = 58.44 g/mol.
Now, using the given mass of 50.0 g NaCl:
Number of moles of NaCl = mass of NaCl / molar mass of NaCl
= 50.0 g / 58.44 g/mol
Next, you need to consider that each mole of NaCl contains one mole of sodium ions. This is because there is one sodium ion (Na+) for every chloride ion (Cl-) in a compound of NaCl, and the formula ratio is 1:1.
Therefore, the number of moles of sodium ions in the 50.0 g sample of NaCl is equal to the number of moles of NaCl calculated earlier.
Hence, the number of moles of sodium ions = number of moles of NaCl
= 50.0 g / 58.44 g/mol
Now you can perform the calculation to find the exact value of moles of sodium ions present in the sample using the above equation.