Question

Determine the mass of sodium carbonate required to produce 23.4g of sodium chloride when it reacts with excess hydrochloric acid.

Answer 1

The balanced chemical reaction for the described reaction above is,
                          Na2CO3 + 2HCl ---> 2NaCl + H2CO3
From the reaction, 1 mole of Na2CO3 is needed to produce 2 moles of NaCl. In terms of mass, 106 grams of Na2CO3 are needed to produce 116.9 grams of NaCl. From this,
                (23.4 g NaCl) x (106 g Na2CO3 / 116.9 NaCl = 21.22 g Na2CO3
Thus, approximately 21.22 g Na2CO3 is needed for the desired reaction.