I have been staring at this one for awhile now... I would so appreciate any help on approaching this problem!

A certain sample of coal contains 1.6 percent sulfur by mass. When the coal is burned, the sulfur is converted to sulfur dioxide. To prevent air pollution, this sulfur dioxide is treated with calcium oxide (CaO) to form calcium sulfate (CaSO3.) Calculate the daily mass (in kg) of CaO needed by a power plant that uses 6.60 x 10^6 kg of coal per day.

Do you mean calcium sulfite (CaSO3) or calcium sulfate(CaSO4)?

Your question states calcium sulfate but you have written calcium sulfite for the formula. I suspect that is a typo and you intend for it to be CaSO4.

Assuming you made a typo and it is CaSO4, calcium sulfate.

Convert 6.60 x 10^6 kg to S.
6.60 x 10^6 kg coal x 0.016 = ?? kg S.
There is 1 mol S in 1 mol SO2 and it requires 1 mol CaO to react with it. Therefore, you need not go through all of the intermediate steps; i.e., you do not need to calculate g SO2 formed and g CaO needed.Simply convert kg S to g S, convert that to mols S, convert that to mols CaO, convert to grams CaO and that to kg CaO.
Post your work if you get stuck.

This person meant sulfite.

just do what dr guy said cuz all is one to one ratio. foo

3293 kg CaO

To solve this problem, you need to follow these steps:

Step 1: Convert the mass of coal to sulfur dioxide:
First, calculate the mass of sulfur in the coal. Since the coal contains 1.6% sulfur by mass, multiply the mass of coal by 0.016 to get the mass of sulfur in the coal.

Mass of sulfur = Mass of coal × 0.016

Step 2: Convert the mass of sulfur dioxide to calcium oxide:
To convert the sulfur dioxide to calcium oxide, you need to know the stoichiometry of the reaction. According to the balanced equation:

CaO + SO2 → CaSO3

The molar ratio between CaO and SO2 is 1:1. This means that 1 mole of CaO reacts with 1 mole of SO2.

To convert from moles of SO2 to moles of CaO, divide the mass of sulfur dioxide by the molar mass of sulfur dioxide and then multiply by the molar mass of calcium oxide.

Moles of CaO = (Mass of SO2 / Molar mass of SO2) × Molar mass of CaO

Step 3: Convert moles of CaO to mass:
Finally, to convert moles of CaO to mass, multiply the moles of CaO by the molar mass of CaO.

Mass of CaO = Moles of CaO × Molar mass of CaO

Let's calculate:

First, calculate the mass of sulfur in the coal:
Mass of sulfur = Mass of coal × 0.016

Next, calculate the moles of CaO:
Moles of CaO = (Mass of sulfur / Molar mass of sulfur dioxide) × Molar mass of CaO

Lastly, calculate the mass of CaO:
Mass of CaO = Moles of CaO × Molar mass of CaO

Using the given values and molar masses, substitute the values and perform the calculations to find the daily mass of CaO needed by the power plant.