Question

Two of the simplest compounds containing just carbon and hydrogen are methane and ethane. Methane contains 0.3357 g of hydrogen for every 1.00 g of carbon. The ratio of grams of hydrogen per gram of carbon in methane to grams of hydrogen per gram of carbon in ethane is 4:3. Determine the number of grams of hydrogen per gram of carbon in ethane.

Answer 1

Let the ratio of grams of hydrogen per gram of carbon in methane be M, we know that:
M = 0.3357 g / 1 g

Next, lets represent the grams of hydrogen per gram of carbon in ethane be E. The final piece of information we have is:

M / E = 4/3

If we cross multiply,

3M = 4E

Now, substituting the value of M from earlier and solving for E,

E = (3 * 0.3357) / 4
E = 0.2518

There are 0.2518 grams of hydrogen per gram of carbon in ethane.