What is the molarity of 24.5 grams of sulfuric acid dissolved in a liter of water?
To calculate the molarity of a solution, you need to know the number of moles of the solute (sulfuric acid in this case) and the volume of the solution.
To determine the number of moles of sulfuric acid, you first need to find its molar mass. The molar mass is the sum of the atomic masses of all the elements in the compound. In the case of sulfuric acid (H2SO4), sulfur (S) has an atomic mass of 32.07 g/mol, hydrogen (H) has an atomic mass of 1.01 g/mol, and oxygen (O) has an atomic mass of 16.00 g/mol. So the molar mass of sulfuric acid is:
Molar mass = (2 * atomic mass of H) + atomic mass of S + (4 * atomic mass of O)
= (2 * 1.01) + 32.07 + (4 * 16.00)
= 98.09 g/mol
Next, you convert the mass of sulfuric acid to moles using the formula:
Number of moles = Mass (in grams) / Molar mass
Number of moles = 24.5 g / 98.09 g/mol
≈ 0.25 mol
Finally, to calculate the molarity, divide the number of moles by the volume in liters:
Molarity = Number of moles / Volume (in liters)
Molarity = 0.25 mol / 1 L
= 0.25 M
Therefore, the molarity of 24.5 grams of sulfuric acid dissolved in a liter of water is approximately 0.25 M.