A compound possess 8% sulphur by mass . the least molecular mass is :?
Calculation of Least Molecular Mass of a Compound with 8% Sulphur by Mass
A compound with 8% sulphur by mass means that there are 8 grams of sulphur in every 100 grams of the compound. To determine the least molecular mass of the compound, we need to know the molecular formula of the compound.
Step 1: Find the Atomic Masses
The first step is to find the atomic masses of the elements in the compound. The atomic mass of sulphur is 32.06 g/mol. We don't know the atomic mass of the other elements in the compound, so we'll use x to represent the atomic mass of the unknown element.
Step 2: Calculate the Molecular Mass
Next, we can calculate the molecular mass of the compound using the atomic masses. The molecular mass is the sum of the atomic masses of all the elements in the compound.
Molecular mass = (8/32.06) + (x/100) = (0.25) + (x/100)
Step 3: Find the Least Molecular Mass
To find the least molecular mass, we need to find the value of x that makes the molecular mass the smallest possible value. We can do this by taking the derivative of the molecular mass with respect to x and setting it equal to zero.
dM/dx = 0.25/ln(10) - 0.01ln(10)/((0.25 + x/100)^2) = 0
Solving for x, we get x = 13.58 g/mol.
Step 4: Determine the Molecular Formula
Now that we know the atomic mass of the unknown element is 13.58 g/mol, we can determine the molecular formula of the compound. Since the compound contains 8% sulphur by mass, we know that the mass of the unknown element is 92% of the total mass.
Let's assume that the compound has a total mass of 100 g. Therefore, the mass of the unknown element is 92 g. Using the atomic mass of the unknown element (13.58 g/mol), we can calculate that there are 6.77 moles of the unknown element in the compound.
The molecular formula of the compound is therefore (S0.25)(X6.77), where X represents the unknown element.
Step 5: Determine the Empirical Formula
To determine the empirical formula, we need to find the simplest whole number ratio of atoms in the compound. We can do this by dividing the subscripts in the molecular formula by the smallest subscript.
The smallest subscript is 0.25, so we'll divide all the subscripts by 0.25:
(S1)(X27) = SX27
The empirical formula of the compound is therefore SX27.
Step 6: Conclusion
The least molecular mass of the compound with 8% sulphur by mass is 232 g/mol, and the empirical formula is SX27. However, we