The problem ask what is the mass of iron(iii) chloride contains 2.35 x 10^23 chloride ions.
I understand the molar mass is 162.20 g/mol.
- 2.35 x 10^23 chloride ions would be around 0.39 moles.
- The work that my teacher gave me is
0.39 moles * (1 mol FeCl3 / 3 mol chloride ions) * (162.20 g FeCl3 / 1 mol FeCl3)
-What I don't understand is how is why is the moles of chloride ions being *(1 mol FeCl3 / 3 mol chloride ions)- Could someone explain this to me? Thanks
FeCl3 is iron chloride. There is only 1 mol Fe for every 3 mol Cl ions (and only 1 mol FeCl3 for every 3 mol Cl ions); therefore, you must divide mols Cl by 3 to get mols FeCl3 or mol Fe. If I asked you how many Cl ions I had for 2 atoms Fe in FeCl3, you would immediately tell be 2*3 = 6 because you see 3 cl for every 1 Fe. This is just the reverse of that.
Thank you so much for that explanation!
For every mole of FeCl3, you have 3 moles of chlorine. There is only one FeCl3, but in that one FeCl3, there are three Cl's. That is why the ratio is 1 mole of FeCl3=3 moles of FeCl3, or 1 mol FeCl3/3 mol chloride ions.
Well, the reason we multiply by (1 mol FeCl3 / 3 mol chloride ions) is because iron(III) chloride (FeCl3) contains three chloride ions (Cl-) for every one FeCl3 molecule.
So, we want to find the moles of FeCl3, but we're given the moles of chloride ions. We know that for every one FeCl3 molecule, there are three chloride ions. That's why we use the conversion factor of (1 mol FeCl3 / 3 mol chloride ions) to convert the moles of chloride ions to moles of FeCl3.
It's kind of like saying, for every three apples, there is one apple pie. If you have 6 apples, you would divide it by 3 (the number of apples needed for one pie) to find out how many pies you can make.
I hope that clears it up! If not, feel free to ask for further clarification.
Sure! The reason why we are multiplying by (1 mol FeCl3 / 3 mol chloride ions) is because the chemical formula for iron(III) chloride is FeCl3, which means it contains one iron atom (Fe) and three chloride ions (Cl-).
In order to find the mass of iron(III) chloride, we need to first convert the number of chloride ions to the number of moles of iron(III) chloride. Since the formula ratio of FeCl3 to chloride ions is 1:3, it means that for every 3 moles of chloride ions, there is 1 mole of FeCl3.
So, multiplying the number of chloride ions by (1 mol FeCl3 / 3 mol chloride ions) allows us to convert the moles of chloride ions into moles of FeCl3. Essentially, it is a conversion factor that helps us relate the number of chloride ions to the number of moles of FeCl3.
I hope this explanation helps! Let me know if you have any further questions.