What mass of sulfuric acid, H2SO4, is required to react with 3.27 g of potassium hydroxide, KOH? The products of this reaction are potassium sulfate
and water.
Have both the unbalanced and balanced chemical equations.
Explain how to find the molar mass of the compounds.
Explain how the balanced chemical equation is used to find the ratio of moles (hint: step 3 in the video).
Explain how many significant figures your answer needs to have.
The numerical answer
1. The unbalanced chemical equation for the reaction between sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and potassium hydroxide (KOH) is:
H2SO4 + KOH → K2SO4 + H2O
To balance this equation, we need to ensure that the number of each type of atom is the same on both sides of the equation. The balanced chemical equation is:
H2SO4 + 2KOH → K2SO4 + 2H2O
2. To find the molar mass of a compound, we add up the atomic masses of all the atoms in the compound. The atomic masses can be found on the periodic table. In this case, the molar mass of sulfuric acid (H2SO4) can be calculated as follows:
(2 * atomic mass of hydrogen) + atomic mass of sulfur + (4 * atomic mass of oxygen)
3. The balanced chemical equation is used to find the ratio of moles between the reactants and products. In the balanced equation:
H2SO4 + 2KOH → K2SO4 + 2H2O
we can see that one molecule of sulfuric acid (H2SO4) reacts with 2 molecules of potassium hydroxide (KOH), producing 1 molecule of potassium sulfate (K2SO4) and 2 molecules of water (H2O). This ratio can also be expressed in terms of moles, as the coefficients in the balanced equation represent the stoichiometric ratios.
4. The answer should have the same number of significant figures as the given measurement. In this case, the mass of potassium hydroxide is given as 3.27 g, so the final answer should also be rounded to 3 significant figures.