Answer:
Answer should be D. Scientists ignore their own person feelings and interpret data objectively.
The mass of hydrated salt - 2.123 g
mass of anhydrous salt - 1.861 g
mass that has been reduced is the mass of water that has been heated and lost from the compound thereby making the salt anhydrous.
therefore mass of water lost - 2.123 - 1.861 = 0.262 g
number of moles of water lost - 0.262 g / 18 g/mol = 0.0146 mol
number of moles of salt - 1.861 g / 380.6 g/mol = 0.00490 mol
molar ratio of moles of water to moles of salt
molar ratio = 0.146 mol / 0.00490 mol = 2.98 rounded off to 3
for every 1 mol of salt there are 3 moles of water
therefore empirical formula - Cu₃(PO₄)₂.3H₂O
The formula for water is H2O so there would have to be two Hyrdogens and one oxygen. Therefore it would be 4g of Hydrogen and 16g of Oxygen leaving you with 20g.
The answer is D.
Hope this helps :) ~
