Stoichiometry Question 29b: Calculating Moles and Mass for Mg + O2 Reaction

[supernova1203]

Question 29b)

I have the actual question in the attachment.

I go through the calculations as follows

Mg + O₂ ---> MgO

then i balance equation

2Mg + O₂----> 2 MgO

since we are given the mass of the magnesium and oxygen reactants, i prooced to finding the number of moles for magnesium and oxygen

for Mg
=2.6/24.3 (Molar mass)

=0.1 mols of Mg


now O₂
=1.6/32(Molar mass)

= 0.05 mols

now that we have the number of moles of Mg and O₂

i continue and find the limited and excess reactant(although i think both are limited, since there is only enough of Mg and O₂ to do the reaction, so I use Mg in cross multiplication with MgO to find the number of MgO moles.

2 mols of Mg ----->2 mols of MgO
0.1 mole ---------> x

2/0.1=2/x

2x=0.2

x=0.1

so now we know the number of moles for MgO is 0.1

finally we calculate the mass of MgO

mass = number of moles x molar mass

molar mass of MgO is 24.3(mg) + 16(Oxygen)

24.3 + 16 = 40.3


mass = 0.1 x 40.3

=4.03 g

according to the law of conservation of mass, both sides reactant and product should be equal and in my calculations they are almost equal, the slight difference (4.2g) on reactants and 4.03g on products side is there because the course curriculum uses different decimal values for molar mass of each element and i use wikipedia (course says Oxygen has molar mass of 16, whereas wikipedia says its 15.9) the same goes for magnesium, book says a value and wikipedia has a slightly different value(again very slightly, which probably accounts for the slight difference in mass)

so the book and i are off by very little, does this check out?

 

[Borek]

2.6g and 1.6g are off, if anything, 2.6g of Mg reacts with 1.7g of oxygen. The difference is too large to be explained just by the differences in molar masses.

That's problem with the question, not with your calculations; however - these values are faulty, so it is hard to tell what they expect you to do. Could be the idea is that you are to use these masses in calculations - note that up to d everything can be calculated using given numbers (even if they are incorrect). Only e will be difficult to solve.

Wikipedia doesn't say oxygen has a molar mass of 15.9, it says 15.9994 - which rounds up to 16.

 

[supernova1203]

hm so your saying that the question has typos in it? because that's been known to happen in this textbook

 

[Borek]

What I am saying is that it can be both a typo, or an intentional use of a slightly off value (similar to experimental error). Impossible to say.

 

[DeeNos]

I would say that your calculations seem to be correct and you have a good understanding of stoichiometry principles. Your explanation of the slight difference in mass due to different decimal values for molar mass is also reasonable. However, it is always important to double check your calculations and make sure you are using accurate and consistent values for molar mass. Overall, your response shows a good understanding of the concept and a thorough approach to solving the problem.