Question

You find a compound composed only of element X and chlorine and you know that the compound is 13.10% X by mass. Each molecule of the compound contains six times as many chlorine atoms as X atoms. What is element X?

Answer 1

Answer:

Explanation:

So, the formula for the compound should be:

$XCl_{6}$

Now we assume that we have 1 mol of substance, so we can make calculations to know the molar mass of element X, as follows:

$M_{Cl}=35.45g/mol$

So we have that 6 moles weight 212.7g, and we can make a rule of three to know the weight of compound X:

$212.7g\rightarrow 86.9\%\\x\rightarrow 13.1\%\\\\x=\frac{212.7g*13.1}{86.9} =32.06g$

As we used 1 mol, we know that the molar mass is 32.06g/mol

So the element has a molar mass of 32.06 g/mol and an oxidation state of +6, with this information, we can assure that the element X is sulfur, so the compound is $SCl_{6}$