Question

Calculate the molarity of a 17.5% (by mass) aqueous solution of nitric acid. Select one: a. 2.74 m b. 4.33 m c. 0.274 m d. 3.04 m e. The density of the solution is needed to solve the problem.

Answer 1

Answer:

Option e.

Explanation:

Molarity is the concentration that indicates moles of solute in 1 L of solution.

We have another concentration, percent by mass.

Percent by mass indicates mass of solute in 100 g of solution.

Our solute is HNO₃, our solvent is water.

17.5 g of nitric acid is the mass of solute. We can convert them to moles:

17.5 g . 1mol / 63g = 0.278 moles

We do not have volume of solution. We assume the mass is 100 g because the percent by mass but we need density to state the volume.

Density = Mass / Volume

Mass / Density = Volume

Once we have the volume, we need to be sure the units is in L, to determine molarity

M = mol /L