The mass percent of an element in a compound can be calculated by knowing specific items of information
The items of information necessary are;
- The molar mass of the element,
- The count of the number of moles of the element in the compound, <em>n</em>
- The compound's formula
- The compound's molar mass
Reasons:
The mass percent of an element in a compound is given as follows;
Where;
= Molar mass of the element
= Molar mass of the compound
n = The number of moles of the element in the compound
Therefore, the items of information necessary to calculate the mass percent in a given compound are;
- The molar mass of the element,
, gives the mass per unit of the element in the compound
- The count of the number of moles of the element in the compound, <em>n</em>
The number of moles of the element per mole of the compound gives the number by which the molar mass is multiplied, to get the mass of the element in the compound
- The compound's formula
The formula of the compound is the source of information of the number of moles of the element present in a mole of the compound
- The compound's molar mass
The molar mass of the compound is the mass to which the mass of the element in a mole of the compound is a fraction. That is the mass that divides the mass of the element in the calculation of the mass percent of the element
With the above information about the element in the compound, its mass percent can be calculated
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