Explanation of the strategy: 1) calculate the mass of water and convert to number of moles, 2) convert the mass of anhydrous CuSO4 to moles, and, 3)calculate the mole ratio of water to CuSO4 anhydrous
1) Calculate the mass of water:
mass of water = mass of the hydrate CuSO4 - mass of the anhydrous compound
mass of water = 12.98 g - 9.70 g = 3.28g
2) Calculate the number of moles of water
number of moles = mass in grams / molar mass
molar mass of water = 18.01 g/mol
number of moles of water = 3.28 g / 18.01 g/mol = 0.182 mol
3) Calculate the number of moles of CuSO4 anhydrous
number of moles = mass in grams / molar mass
molar mass of Cu SO4 = 159.6 g/mol
number of moles of CuSO4 = 9.70g / 159.6 g/mol = 0.0608 moles
4) Calculate the ratio moles of water / moles of CuSO4
ratio = moles of water / moles of CuSO4 = 0.182 / 0.0608 = 2.99 ≈ 3
