Chem 101 – Lecture Notes for Chapter 3

1. Avogadro’s number, the mole, atomic and molar mass (Chang sections 3.1, 3.2
and 3.3, pp. 78-85)
See the “Chemical Dictionary” for definitions of the mole, the atomic mass unit (amu), and
molar mass.

Avogadro’s number is the number of units (atoms, molecules, ions) in a mole. NA=
6.022x1023. You don’t need to remember this number, it will always be given, just as you
will always have a periodic table with molar masses of the elements.

The average molar mass (in gram/mol) of an element is the mass expressed in grams equal
to the amu of that element given in the periodic table.

The average molar mass of a compound is the sum of the molar masses of the elements in the
molecule.

Examples:
What is the molar mass of: a) Cl b) Cl2 c) CaCl2
Answer: Simply add the molar masses of the elements given in the periodic table
a) 35.45 g/mol b) 35.45+35.45 =70.90 g/mol c) 40.08+2x35.45= 110.98 g/mol

2. Calculating the average molar mass of an element (Chang section 3.2)

Why are molar masses not all whole numbers? Because most elements have more than one
stable isotope, therefore the molar mass of the element is the average of the molar massescof
its isotopes.. An exception is fluorine, F (element # 9), which has an exact molar mass of
19.00 because 19F is the only stable isotope of fluorine.

Examples.

1. Chlorine has stable isotopes 35Cl and 37Cl. 78.0% is 35Cl, 22.0% is 37Cl. What is the
average molar mass of chlorine?
Answer: the average molar mass of Cl is 0.780x35 + 0.220x37 = 35.4 g/mol.

2. The stable isotopes of hydrogen are 1H and 2H. The average molar mass of H is 1.008
g/mol. Calculate the % 1H and 2H in hydrogen.

Answer: call the fraction of 1H = X. Then 1.008 = Xx1.00 + (1−X)x2.00

→ X = 0.992, or 99.2% is 1H and 0.8% is 2H

3. Avogadro’s number and the mole

This section, as most of chapter 3, is best explained by example problems.
Formulas:
mass( g )
number of moles = mass( g ) = (number of moles ) x ( molar mass ( g/mol ))
molar mass ( g/mol )
Examples.

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 1. How many grams is 3.1 mol NaCl?
Answer: MM (molar mass) of NaCl = 58.44
(3.1 mol NaCl)x(58.44g/1 mol NaCl) = 181.2 g

2. How many moles is 0.53 g Na2CO3 ?

Answer: MM of Na2CO3 = 106.0
(0.53 g Na2CO3)x(1 mol/106.0 g Na2CO3) = 5.0x10−3 mol
3. How many atoms Cr (chromium) in 0.20 mol K2Cr2O7?
Answer: 0.20 mol contains 2x0.20 = 0.40 mol Cr = 0.40x6.02x1023 = 2.41x1023 atoms Cr.

Or, using the dimensional analysis method:

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2 mol Cr 6 . 02 x 10 atoms
0 .20 mol K 2 Cr 2 O7 x x =2 . 41 x 1023 atoms Cr
1 mol K 2 Cr 2 O7 1 mol Cr
(Notice how the units cancel to give the answer in atoms Cr.

5. % composition and empirical formula (Chang section 3.5 and 3.6, pp 86-92)
With %composition of a compound we mean the percentage by mass (weight) of the elements
in a compound. With n = number of atoms of an element in the molecular formula:
n x MM (element )
% element= x 100 %
MM ( compound)

Examples.

1. How many g Na in 0.85 g Na2CO3?

Answer: MM of Na2CO3 = 106.0
1 mol Na 2 CO 3 2 mol Na 22 . 99 g Na
0 . 85 g Na 2 CO 3 x x x =0 . 37 g Na
106 g 1 mol Na2 CO 3 1 mol Na
Note that you can also reason this out:
0.85 g = 0.85/106 mol, contains 2x(0.85/106) mol Na = 2x(0.85/106)x22.99 = 0.37 g Na.
The two methods really are the same!

2. What is the mass% of H, S and O in H2SO4? MM of H2SO4 = 98.09 g/mol

Answer: using the equation above:
%H = [2x(1.008 g H)/(98.09 g H2SO4)]x100% = 2.055 %H
%S = [(32.07 g S)/(98.09 g H2SO4)]x100% = 32.69 %S
%O = [4x(16.00 g O)/(98.09 g H2SO4)]x100% = 65.25 %O
Of course the answers must add up to 100%.
The reverse problem is to go from % composition to the empirical formula (the ratio of the
number of atoms of each element in a compound). We start such problems by assuming we
have 100 g of sample. Following the method of Chang fig. 3.5 (p.89):

mass % ↔ moles of each element ↔ mass ratio of the elements ↔ empirical formula

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 3. Glucose is found to contain 40.0% C, 6.73% H, and 53.3 % O. What is the empirical
formula of glucose? (Note that in these problems the answers may not add up exactly to
100% due to experimental uncertainty or to rounding off).

Answer: If we would have 100 g glucose, we would have 40.0 g C, 6.73 g H, and 53.3 g O.
Call n = number of moles of each element.
nC = 40.0/12.01 = 3.33 nH = 6.73/1.008 = 6.68 nO = 53.3/16.00 = 3.34
Reduce this to the simplest ratio by dividing by the smallest n value, we find:
3.33/3.33 = 1.00, 6.68/3.33 = 2.01, 3.34/3.33 = 1.00, and the closest whole number
ratio is 1C : 2H : 1O, giving us the empirical formula CH2O

Once we have the empirical formula, we can find the molecular formula if we know the
molar mass, MM. For instance, for the case of glucose, if we know that the molar mass is 180
g/mol, we find the molecular formula by dividing the molar mass by the empirical molar
mass. For glucose, the empirical formula is CH2O, therefore the empirical molar mass = 12+
2+ 16 = 30 (no need to use great accuracy here). Then:

molar mass 180

= =6
empirical molar mass 30

This must mean that there are 6 (CH2O) units in a glucose molecule, thus the molecular
formula is C6H12O6 .

6. Balancing chemical reactions (Chang section 3.7 pp. 92-97)

The principle in balancing chemical reactions is that the number of atoms of each element
must stay the same as we change the reactants into the products. In other words, atoms
cannot disappear, or suddenly appear out of nothing!

For instance, the unbalanced reaction between hydrogen (H2) and chlorine (Cl2) molecules to
form hydrogen chloride (HCl) can be written as:
H2 + Cl2 → HCl (unbalanced reaction showing only the reactants and
products)
This tells us what are the reactants (H2 and Cl2) and what is the product (HCl). But the
reaction as written would be unbalanced, because we do not have the same number of atoms
of each element “left and right”. In this case, we can simply make the reaction balanced by
multiplying the right hand side by 2:
H2 + Cl2 → 2HCl (balanced reaction)

General rules for balancing chemical reactions.

1. Write the correct formulas for the reactants (left) and products (right)
2. When elements such as oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, chlorine etc. are involved write
them as they naturally occur, O2 (not 2O), H2, N2, Cl2, etc.
3. Are there any elements that appear only once left and right? Start by balancing this
element.
4. Then balance the other elements

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 5. Once you think you have balanced the equation, check each element!

Sometimes you will need to go “back and forth’ a few times to balance all elements. Also
note that in a number of reactions, in particular acid+base reactions, oxoanions such as NO3−,
SO42−, PO43− stay the same in reactants and products and can be balanced as one unit.

Examples.

Balance the following reactions:

a) iron (Fe) reacts with sulfur (S) to form iron(III) sulfide.

b) sodium carbonate decomposes into sodium oxide and carbon dioxide
c) sodium chlorate decomposes into sodium chloride and oxygen
d) nitrogen reacts with hydrogen to form ammonia
d) aluminum hydroxide reacts with sulfuric acid to form aluminum sulfate and water
Note that you need to be able to write the formulas for these compounds as covered in
chapter 2!

a) iron = Fe, sulfur = S, iron(III) sulfide = Fe2S3

unbalanced reaction: Fe + S → Fe2S3
balance iron: 2Fe + S → Fe2S3
now also balance S 2Fe + 3S → Fe2S3 the reaction is balanced
Atom check: 2 Fe left and right, 3 S left and right, OK

b) sodium carbonate = Na2CO3; sodium oxide = Na2O; carbon dioxide = CO2

Na2CO3 → Na2O + CO2
Inspection shows the reaction is already balanced: 2 Na left and right, 3 O left and right!

c) sodium chlorate = NaClO3, sodium chloride = NaCl, oxygen = O2 (not O)

unbalanced reaction: NaClO3 → NaCl + O2
Start with Na: already balanced. Cl also already balanced. For O we need the same number of
atoms left and right: 6 O on each side, so on left we need 2 NaClO3:
2NaClO3 → NaCl + 3O2
But now we need to balance Na and Cl again:
2NaClO3 → 2NaCl + 3 O2
Atom check: 2 Na, 2 Cl, 6O left and right, OK

d) Ammonia = NH3
Unbalanced reaction: N2 + H2 → NH3
Balance the nitrogen: N2 + H2 → 2NH3
Balance the hydrogen: N2 + 3H2 → 2NH3
Atom check: 2 N left and right, 6H left and right, OK. Note that in this rection we could also
have started by balancing the hydrogen, but in many cases it is best to leave H and O to the
last.

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e) aluminum hydroxide = Al(OH)3 , sulfuric acid = H2SO4, aluminum sulfate = Al2(SO4)3.
Unbalanced reaction Al(OH)3 + H2SO4 → Al2(SO4)3 + H2O
Start with Al, need 2 Al(OH)3 on the left:
2Al(OH)3 + H2SO4 → Al2(SO4)3 + H2O
Balance the sulfate ion as a group, need 3 H2SO4 on the left:
2Al(OH)3 + 3H2SO4 → Al2(SO4)3 + H2O
Now balance the hydrogen: 12 H “on the left”, means we need 6 H2O “on the right”:
2Al(OH)3 + 3H2SO4 → Al2(SO4)3 + 6H2O
Finally check the oxygen: 18 on the left, 18 on the right, all elements OK.
Note again the general principle: balance all other elements before balancing H, then O.

7. Chemical reaction calculations (Chang section 3.8, pp. 97-101)

Let’s say we have a reaction such as:

CaCO3 → CaO + CO2
The question is for instance as follows: we have 5.0 g CaCO3. How much CaO and how
much CO2 will be formed if the reaction “goes to completion”? (The last statement meaning
that all CaCO3 will react).

Chang gives two methods of solving this problem. The two methods are essentially the same
but one, the method using dimensional analysis, will always work, while the second method,
using moles directly, may seem easier to some students. In exams you can use either method.

The dimensional analysis method.

1 mol CaCO 3 1 mol CaO 56 g CaO
g CaO formed : 5 . 0 g CaCO3 x x x = 2 .8 g CaO
100 g CaCO3 1 mol CaCO 3 1 mol CaO

1 mol CaO
The ratio 1 mol CaCO3 is called the stoichiometric equivalency, in this case simply 1 to 1,
meaning that 1 mol CaCO3 produces 1 mol CaO.
1 mol CO 2
We can do the same for CO2, using the same stoichiometric equivalency 1 mol CaCO3
and we find grams CO2 formed = 2.2 g CO2.

The Law of Conservation of Mass of course applies: total mass of reactants = total mass of
products formed, 5.0 g CaCO3 yields (produces) 2.8 g CaO and 2.2 g CO2.

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The mole method (Chang fig. 3.8 p.99)

Convert mass of reactant to moles (moles = mass/MM), apply stoichiometric ratio from the
balanced equation to get moles of product formed, convert moles of product to mass (mass =
molesxMM):

gram reactant grams product

moles = mass/MM mass = molesxMM

apply stoichiometric ratio from balanced reaction
moles reactant moles product

or, in our CaCO3 example (MM of CaCO3 = 100):

5.0 g CaCO3 = 5.0/100 = 0.050 moles CaCO3 → 0.050 moles CaO = 0.050x56 = 2.8 g CaO

Example.
Reaction: Fe + O2 → Fe2O3 (not yet balanced!). How many g Fe2O3 can be formed from 2.80
g Fe? How many g. oxygen are needed?
Answer.
Always first balance the reaction: 4Fe + 3O2 → 2Fe2O3
This shows that 4 Fe is equivalent to 2 Fe2O3 and 3 O2.

Dimensional analysis method:

1 mol Fe 2 mol Fe 2 O3 159 . 8 g Fe2 O3
(2. 80 g Fe ) x x x =4 . 00 g Fe2 O3
55 . 9 g Fe 4 mol Fe 1 mol Fe 2 O3
Same method for amount of O2 needed:
1 mol Fe 3 mol O2 32 g O23
(2. 80 g Fe ) x x x =1 .20 g O 2
55. 9 g Fe 4 mol Fe 1 mol O2

Mole method:
2.80 g Fe = 2.80/55.9 = 0.050 mol Fe → 0.05x(2/4) = 0.025 mol Fe2O3 = 0.025x159.8 =
4.00 g Fe2O3.

2.8 g Fe = 0.050 mol Fe reacts with 0.050x(3/4) = 0.0375 mol O2 = 0.0375x32 = 1.20 g O2

8. Limiting reagents

In the reaction between Fe and O2 in example 10 we did not state how much oxygen was
actually present. The assumption in such cases is that the reactant not mentioned is present in
excess, in other words there is enough oxygen present to react with all of the iron. We did
find that 2.8 g Fe reacts with 1.20 g oxygen, and the assumption is that we have more than
1.20 g O2 present, and only 1.20 g O2 is used in the reaction, the remainder simply will still
be there.

But how about if the problem reads as follows?

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How much Fe2O3 will be formed when 1.40 g iron (Fe) reacts with 0.40 g O2?
Now we don’t know which reactant will be used up completely, and which reactant is in
excess. The reactant that will be used up completely is called the limiting reagent, it limits
how much product can be formed; the other reactant is the excess reagent.
4Fe + 3O2 → 2Fe2O3
The dimensional analysis method
A longer method, but one that always works, is to do the calculation twice, in the example
above first for the Fe, next for the O2. The reactant that forms the least amount of product
(Fe2O3 in this example) is the limiting reagent.

First do the calculation for 1.40 g Fe:

1 mol Fe 2 mol Fe 2 O3 159 . 8 g Fe 2 O3
1. 40 g Fe x x x =2 . 00 g Fe 2 O3
55. 9 g Fe 4 mol Fe 1 mol Fe 2 O3
If the 1.40 g Fe is limiting then 2.00 g Fe2O3 would be formed. Now do the calculation for
O2:
1 mol O 2 2 mol Fe2 O 3 159. 8 g Fe 2 O 3
0 . 40 g O2 x x x = 1 .33 g Fe 2 O 3
32 g O2 3 mol O2 1 mol Fe 2 O3
This shows that O2 is the limiting reagent, 1.33 g Fe2O3 will be formed, all O2 will be used
up, and some Fe will be left (0.47 g Fe left over, check this yourself!).

The moles method.

1.40 g Fe = 1.40/55.9 = 0.025 mol Fe; 0.40 g O2 = 0.40/32 = 0.0125 mol
But from the balanced reaction we know that 0.025 mol Fe would react with ((3/4)x0.025 =
0.01875 mol O2. We only have 0.40/32 = 0.0125 mol O2, so there is not enough O2, oxygen is
the limiting reagent, and we will form 0.0125x(2/3)= 00083 mol Fe2O3 = 0.0083x160 = 1.33
g Fe2O3 will be formed.

Example.

11. Consider the reaction: Fe2O3 + HCl → FeCl3 + H2O (unbalanced).

How much FeCl3 would be formed if we add 7.3 g HCl to 4.0 g Fe2O3?

Answer.
Dimensional analysis method:
We recognize this as a limiting reagent problem. First we balance the reaction:
Fe2O3 + 6HCl → 2FeCl3 + 3H2O
First do the calculation for 4.0 g Fe2O3:
1 mol Fe 2 O3 2 mol FeCl 3 163 .3 g FeCl 3
4 . 0 g Fe 2 O3 x x x = 8. 2 g FeCl3
159. 8 g Fe 2 O3 1 mol Fe 2 O3 1 mol FeCl 3
Then for 7.3 g HCl:
1 mol HCl 2 mol FeCl3 163. 3 g FeCl 3
7 .3 g HCl x x x = 10 .9 g FeCl 3
36 . 5 g HCl 6 mol HCl 1 mol FeCl 3

4.0 g Fe2O3 yields only 8.2 g FeCl3, less than 10.9 g from 7.3 g HCl, so Fe2O3 is the lmiting
reagent and 8.2 g FeCl3 will be formed. HCl is in excess and some HCl will be left over.

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With the moles method :

4.0 g Fe2O3 = 4.0/159.8 = 0.025 mol; 7.3 g HCl = 7.3/36.5 = 0.20 mol.

However, 0.025 mol Fe2O3 would react with 0.025x(6/1) = 0.15 mol HCl, we have 0.20 mol
HCl, so HCl is in excess, Fe2O3 is the limiting reagent, 0.025 mol Fe2O3 yields 2x0.025 =
0.05 mol FeCl3 = 0.05x163.3 = 8.2 g FeCl3.

With this method we can also easily calculate how much HCl will be left over: the limiting reagent is
Fe2O3, we have 0.025 mol Fe2O3, which would react with 0.15 mol HCl, we have 0.20 mol HCl, so
0.20 − 0.15 = 0.05 mol HCl will be left over, or 0.05x36.5 = 1.8 g HCl left over.

9. Reaction Yield

In the examples above we have assumed that the reaction goes to completion, i.e., 100% of
the limiting reagent reacts, and the reaction proceeds perfectly to form the product. In reality
many reactions do not go to completion, or some byproducts may be formed, or simply the
experimental procedure leads to loss of some of the product.

The calculations in the examples above give us the theoretical yield of a reaction. In other
words, in example 10, when 4.0 g Fe2O3 reacts with 7.3 g HCl, the theoretical yield would be
8.2 g FeCl3. In practice, the actual yield may be less than 8.2 g FeCl3. We define:

actual yield
% yield = x 100 %
theoretical yield

Examples.

1. When 4.0 g Fe2O3 reacts with 7.3 g HCl, after the reaction 6.8 g FeCl3 is produced.
Calculate the % yield of the reaction.

Answer.
In problems such as this you have to recognize that it combines a limiting reagent problem
with a % yield problem.

For simplicity we have used the numbers from example 11, so we already know that with 4.0
g Fe2O3 and 7.3 g HCl, Fe2O3 is the limiting reagent, and that the theoretical yield of FeCl3 is
8.2 g. The actual yield is only 6.8 g FeCl3, so the %yield is:

actual yield 6. 8
% yield = x 100 %= x 100%= 83 %
theoretical yield 8. 2

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2. Aluminum reacts with hydrochloric acid to form aluminum chloride and hydrogen. When
6.3 g Al is mixed with 30.0 g HCl, 26.5 g AlCl3 is formed. What is the % yield of the
reaction?

Answer.
As always, we first balance the reaction: 2Al +6HCl → 2AlCl3 + 3H2

Dimensional analysis method:

1 mol Al 2 mol AlCl 3 134 . 2 g AlCl 3
6 .3 g Al x x x = 31. 3 g AlCl 3
27 . 0 g . Al 2 mol Al 1 mol AlCl 3
1 mol HCl 2 mol AlCl 3 134 .2 g AlCl 3
30 .0 g HCl x x x = 36 . 5 g AlCl 3
36 . 5 g HCl 6 mol HCl 1 mol AlCl 3

Therefore Al is the limiting reagent, and the theoretical yield = 31.3 g AlCl3.

actual yield 26.5

% yield = x 100 %= x 100 %= 85 %
theoretical yield 31.3

Moles method:
6.3 g Al = 6.3/27.0 = 0.233 mol Al 30.0 g HCl = 30.0/36.5 = 0.82 mol

0.233 mol Al would react with 0.233x(6/2)= 0.70 mol HCl. We have 0.82 mol HCl, so HCl is
in excess, Al is the limiting reagent.

Theoretical yield: 0.233 mol Al → 0.233 mol AlCl3 = 0.233x134.2 = 31.3 g AlCl3.
% yield = (26.5/31.3)x100% = 85%,

Of course we get the same answer, but now we can also easily calculate the amount of HCl
left over: 0.82 − 0.233x3 = 0.12 mol HCl left over = 0.12x36.5 = 4.4 g HCl left.

Exercises.
1.
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1. Potassium has 2 stable isotopes, K (39.0 amu, 95% abundance) and K (41.0 amu,
5% abundance). Calculate the average molar mass of potassium. Answer: 39.1g/mol

1. What is the mass of 0.23 mol K2Cr2O7? Answer: 67.7 g

2. How many atoms of oxygen, O, in 6.2 mg (6.2x10−3 g) KMnO4? NAVO = 6.022x1023

Answer:9.5x1019
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3. What is the mass of 7.5x10 atoms of F? Answer: 2.4x10−15g

4. How many atoms H in 1.8x10−6 g H2O? Answer:1.2x1017

5. Calculate the % composition of H, P, and O in phosphoric acid, H3PO4.

Answer: 3.1% H, 31.6% P, 65.3% O

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6. An oxide of manganese, Mn, consists of 36.8% O and 63.2% Mn. What is the
empirical formula of the oxide? Answer:
MnO2

7. Balance the following reaction equations.

a) Cu2O → Cu + O2 Answer: 2,4,1
b) C2H6 + O2 → CO2 + H2O Answer: 2,7,4,6
c) P2O5 + H2O → H3PO4 Answer: 1,3,2
d) ZnO + H3PO4 → Zn3(PO4)2 + H2O Answer; 3,2,1,3
e) C6H12O6 + O2 → CO2 + H2O Answer: 1,6,6,6
f) C3H6O + O2 → CO2 + H2O Answer:1,4,3,3
g) NH3 + CuO → Cu + N2 + H2O Answer: 2,3,3,1,3

8. Consider the unbalanced reaction: Ca(OH)2 + H3PO4 → Ca3(PO4)2 + H2O

Balance the reaction and calculate the amount of calcium phosphate formed when 3.70 g
calcium hydroxide reacts with excess phosphoric acid. Answer: 5.18 g
9. Cu + HNO3 → Cu(NO3)2 + NO2 + H2O. Balance the reaction (not an easy one!)
and calculate how much copper(II) nitrate will be formed when 31.7 g copper reacts with
excess nitric acid. (Note that you can do the calculation even if you cannot balance the
reaction, since 1 mol Cu will always give 1 mol Cu(NO3)2!) Answer: 93.3 g

10. Consider the unbalanced reaction Al2O3 + H2SO4 → Al2(SO4)3 + H2O.

a) Balance the reaction.
b) 2.04 g aluminum oxide reacts with 4.90 g H2SO4. Find the limiting reagent
and calculate how much aluminum sulfate will be formed. Answer:
H2SO4, 5.70 g

11.Consider the reaction 2Fe + KClO3 → Fe2O3 + KCl. (already balanced).

When 2.46 g Fe is mixed with when 3.68 g KClO3, 2.60 g Fe2O3 is formed. Calculate the
%yield of the reaction. Answer: 74%

Additional problems in Chang, chapter 3:

3.14, 3.20, 3.26, 3.28, 3.40, 3.46, 3.48, 3.53.66, 3.70, 3.74, 3.76, 3.94
(Answers to all even-numbered problems are given the AP pages in the back of the book)

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