<span>34.2 grams
Lookup the atomic weights of the involved elements
Atomic weight potassium = 39.0983
Atomic weight Chlorine = 35.453
Atomic weight Oxygen = 15.999
Molar mass KClO3 = 39.0983 + 35.453 + 3 * 15.999 = 122.5483 g/mol
Moles KClO3 = 87.4 g / 122.5483 g/mol = 0.713188188 mol
The balanced equation for heating KClO3 is
2 KClO3 = 2 KCl + 3 O2
So 2 moles of KClO3 will break down into 3 moles of oxygen molecules.
0.713188188 mol / 2 * 3 = 1.069782282 mols
So we're going to get 1.069782282 moles of oxygen molecules. Since each molecule has 2 atoms, the mass will be
1.069782282 * 2 * 15.999 = 34.23089345 grams
Rounding the results to 3 significant figures gives 34.2 grams</span>
First, we determine the mass of each element from the data collected. We can get the mass of molybdenum Mo from the difference between the mass of crucible and molybdenum and the mass of crucible:
Mass of molybdenum = 39.52 – 38.26 = 1.26 g Mo
We can calculate for the mass of molybdenum oxide from the difference between the mass of crucible and molybdenum oxide and the mass of crucible:
Mass of molybdenum oxide = 39.84 – 38.26 = 1.58g
We can now compute for the mass of oxygen O by subtracting the mass of molybdenum from the mass of molybdenum oxide:
Mass of oxygen in molybdenum oxide = 1.58 – 1.26 = 0.32g O
To convert mass to moles, we use the molar mass of each element.
1.26 g Mo * 1 mol Mo / 95.94 g Mo = 0.0131 mol Mo
0.32 g O * 1 mol O / 15.999 g O = 0.0200 mol O
0.0131 mol is the smallest number of moles. We divide each mole value by this number:
0.0131 mol Mo / 0.0131 = 1
0.0200 mol O / 0.0131 = 1.53
Multiplying these results by 2 to get the lowest whole number ratio,
0.0131 mol Mo / 0.0131 = 1 * 2 = 2
0.0200 mol O / 0.0131 = 1.5 * 2 = 3
Thus, we can write the empirical formula as Mo2O3.
