In a chemical reaction, 36 grams of hydrochloric acid reacts with 40 grams of sodium hydroxide to produce sodium chloride and water. Which statement is correct?
a The mass of water formed is 76 grams.
b The mass of sodium chloride formed is 76 grams.
c The mass of water formed is greater than 76 grams.
d The mass of sodium chloride formed is less than 76 grams.
To determine the correct statement, we need to calculate the masses of sodium chloride and water formed in the reaction.
The balanced chemical equation for the reaction is:
2HCl + NaOH -> NaCl + H2O
From the equation, we can see that 2 moles of hydrochloric acid (HCl) react with 1 mole of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) to produce 1 mole of sodium chloride (NaCl) and 1 mole of water (H2O).
First, let's convert the given masses of hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide to moles.
The molar mass of HCl is 36.47 g/mol:
36 g HCl * (1 mol HCl / 36.47 g HCl) = 0.988 mol HCl
The molar mass of NaOH is 40.00 g/mol:
40 g NaOH * (1 mol NaOH / 40.00 g NaOH) = 1.000 mol NaOH
To determine the limiting reactant, we compare the number of moles of each reactant. In this case, both substances have similar moles, so neither of them is in excess.
The balanced equation tells us that the ratio of moles of HCl to NaCl is 2:1. Therefore, the number of moles of NaCl formed is half the number of moles of HCl used:
0.988 mol HCl * (1 mol NaCl / 2 mol HCl) = 0.494 mol NaCl
Similarly, the number of moles of H2O formed is the same as the number of moles of HCl used:
0.988 mol H2O
To convert the number of moles to grams, we use the molar mass of each compound.
The molar mass of NaCl is 58.44 g/mol:
0.494 mol NaCl * 58.44 g NaCl/mol = 28.91 grams of NaCl
The molar mass of H2O is 18.02 g/mol:
0.988 mol H2O * 18.02 g H2O/mol = 17.83 grams of H2O
Comparing these values to the answer choices, we can see that statement (d) The mass of sodium chloride formed is less than 76 grams is correct.