A chemist decomposes several samples of carbon monoxide into carbon and oxygen and weighs the resultant elements. The results are shown below:
Sample Mass of Carbon Mass of Oxygen
1 6 8
2 12 16
3 18 24
Do you notice a pattern in these results?
Next, the chemist decomposes several samples of hydrogen peroxide into hydrogen and oxygen. The results are shown below:
Sample Mass of Hydrogen Mass of Oxygen
1 0.5 8
2 1 16
3 1.5 24
Part B
Do you notice a similarity between these results and those for carbon monoxide in part a?
Formulate a law from the observations in a and b.
Formulate a hypothesis that might explain your law in c
a.
Multiply #1 by 2 or 3 to obtain results for #2 and #3.
b. Same for H2O2.
Look up the Law of Multiple Proportions.
I need the answer
In both sets of results, namely for carbon monoxide and hydrogen peroxide, the mass of oxygen is consistently double the mass of carbon or hydrogen, respectively.
Formulating a law based on these observations, we can state:
Law: In any chemical compound, the mass of an element being decomposed is directly proportional to the mass of the resulting elements.
Hypothesis: One possible explanation for this law could be that chemical compounds have a consistent ratio of elements, and during decomposition, the compounds break down into their constituent elements in the same ratio. This ratio may be dependent on the chemical formula of the compound.
In both sets of results, we observe a pattern where the mass of the elements (carbon and hydrogen) increases in equal increments while the mass of oxygen doubles in each subsequent sample.
For the carbon monoxide decomposition:
In the first sample, we have 6 units of carbon and 8 units of oxygen. In the second sample, the mass of carbon doubles to 12 units, and the mass of oxygen also doubles to 16 units. Similarly, in the third sample, both the carbon and oxygen masses again double to 18 units and 24 units, respectively.
For the hydrogen peroxide decomposition:
Here, in the first sample, we have 0.5 units of hydrogen and 8 units of oxygen. In the second sample, the mass of hydrogen gets doubled to 1 unit, and the mass of oxygen doubles to 16 units. In the third sample, both the hydrogen and oxygen masses again double to 1.5 units and 24 units, respectively.
The similarity between these results is that in both cases, the mass of the elements increases in equal increments, while the mass of oxygen doubles in each subsequent sample.
Based on these observations, we can formulate a law known as the Law of Definite Proportions. This law states that a given compound or chemical substance always contains the same elements in the same proportions by mass, regardless of the source or method of preparation.
A hypothesis that might explain this law is that different substances consist of discrete and indivisible particles (atoms) that combine in fixed ratios to form compounds. In these examples, carbon monoxide and hydrogen peroxide always have a fixed mass ratio between the elements, indicating that there is a specific arrangement and combination of atoms in these compounds.