What would be the total mass of the products of a reaction in which 25 grams of table salt (sodium chloride) decomposes into the elements sodium and chlorine?
Can someone please help me with this?
I forgot to say, I believe the answer is 25 grams since mass can't be destroyed nor created but I just wanna make sure.
Your reasoning is very good and correct. You can prove it. To make the calculation easier I will use approximations like this.
2NaCl ==> 2Na + Cl2
molar mass NaCl is approx 58.5
Na is approx 23
Cl is approx 35.5
Starting with 25 g NaCl we will get
(25/58.5) x 23 = approx 9.8 g Na
(25/58.5) x 71 = approx 15.2 g Cl2
Total on the left is 25 and on the right is 9.8+15.2 = 25 g.
Sure, I can help you with that. To find the total mass of the products in a chemical reaction, you need to determine the stoichiometry of the reaction. The stoichiometry relates the amount of reactants to the amount of products produced in a chemical equation.
In this case, we have the reaction:
2NaCl → 2Na + Cl2
From the balanced chemical equation, we can see that for every 2 moles of sodium chloride (NaCl) that decompose, it produces 2 moles of sodium (Na) and 1 mole of chlorine (Cl2).
1. First, convert the given mass of sodium chloride (25 grams) to moles. To do this, divide the given mass by the molar mass of sodium chloride (NaCl). The molar mass of sodium chloride is the sum of the atomic masses of sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl).
The atomic mass of sodium (Na) is 22.99 g/mol, and the atomic mass of chlorine (Cl) is 35.45 g/mol.
So, the molar mass of NaCl = 22.99 g/mol + 35.45 g/mol = 58.44 g/mol.
To convert grams to moles, divide the given mass by the molar mass:
25 g / 58.44 g/mol = 0.4282 moles of NaCl.
2. Now that we have the number of moles of NaCl, we can use the stoichiometry of the reaction to determine the number of moles of sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl2) produced.
From the balanced equation, we know that for every 2 moles of NaCl decomposed, 2 moles of Na are produced, and 1 mole of Cl2 is produced. Therefore, the number of moles of Na and Cl2 produced will also be 0.4282 moles.
3. Finally, to find the total mass of the products, we need to convert the number of moles of Na and Cl2 produced to grams. To do this, multiply the number of moles by their respective molar masses:
Mass of Na produced = 0.4282 moles × 22.99 g/mol = 9.85 grams
Mass of Cl2 produced = 0.4282 moles × (2 × 35.45 g/mol) = 30.26 grams
Therefore, the total mass of the products (Na + Cl2) is:
9.85 grams + 30.26 grams = 40.11 grams