According to the principle of electrical neutrality, a water sample must have the same number of anions and cations. Assuming that a water sample contains 40 mg/L of chloride, 100 mg/L sulfate, and 10 mg/L nitrate, estimate the maximum amount (in mg/L) of sodium that could be present in this water sample.
1. Convert 40 mg/L Cl^-, 100 mg/L SO4^2-, and 10 mg/L NO3^- into moles/liter using the formula masses for Cl, SO4, and NO3.
2. Add the moles of the three anions to get the total moles/liter.
3. Convert the total moles/L to grams of Na+/L by multiplying the total moles/L by the atomic mass of Na.
To estimate the maximum amount of sodium that could be present in the water sample, we need to determine the amount of anions and cations in the sample and ensure that they are balanced according to the principle of electrical neutrality.
First, let's calculate the total anion concentration in the water sample.
Total anion concentration = chloride concentration + sulfate concentration + nitrate concentration = 40 mg/L + 100 mg/L + 10 mg/L = 150 mg/L.
Since the water sample should have the same number of anions and cations, the total cation concentration should also be 150 mg/L.
Let's assume that all the cations are sodium ions.
Therefore, the maximum amount of sodium that could be present in the water sample is 150 mg/L.