Here's a step-by-step solution to your chemistry problem:
a) Construct the balanced chemical equation for the reaction.
Iron (III) oxide (Fe2O3) reacts with sulfuric acid (H2SO4) to produce iron (III) sulfate (Fe2(SO4)3) and water (H2O).
The unbalanced equation is:
Fe2O3+H2SO4→Fe2(SO4)3+H2O
To balance the equation:
- Balance Fe: There are 2 Fe atoms on both sides.
- Balance SO4 groups: There is 1 SO4 group on the left and 3 on the right. Place a coefficient of 3 in front of H2SO4.
Fe2O3+3H2SO4→Fe2(SO4)3+H2O
- Balance H atoms: There are 3×2=6 H atoms on the left. Place a coefficient of 3 in front of H2O.
Fe2O3+3H2SO4→Fe2(SO4)3+3H2O
- Check O atoms (excluding those in SO4): There are 3 O atoms in Fe2O3 on the left and 3 O atoms in 3H2O on the right. The equation is balanced.
The balanced chemical equation is:
Fe2O3+3H2SO4→Fe2(SO4)3+3H2O
b)
i) Calculate the mass of the pure oxide that reacted with the acid.
Step 1: Calculate the moles of sulfuric acid reacted.
Given:
Volume of H2SO4=600cm3=0.600dm3
Concentration of H2SO4=0.100mol/dm3
Moles of H2SO4=Concentration×Volume
Moles of H2SO4=0.100mol/dm3×0.600dm3=0.0600mol
Step 2: Use stoichiometry to find the moles of pure iron (III) oxide reacted.
From the balanced equation: 1molofFe2O3 reacts with 3molofH2SO4.
The mole ratio of Fe2O3:H2SO4 is 1:3.
Moles of Fe2O3=MolesofH2SO4×31
Moles of Fe2O3=0.0600mol×31=0.0200mol
Step 3: Calculate the mass of pure iron (III) oxide.
Molar mass of Fe2O3:
M(Fe2O3)=(2×ArofFe)+(3×ArofO)
M(Fe2O3)=(2×55.8)+(3×16.0)=111.6+48.0=159.6g/mol
Mass of Fe2O3=Moles×Molar Mass
Mass of Fe2O3=0.0200mol×159.6g/mol=3.192g
Rounding to 3 significant figures:
Mass of pure oxide=3.19g
ii) Calculate the percentage (%) purity of iron (III) oxide assuming that the impurities did not react with the acid.
Given:
Total mass of impure iron (III) oxide = 4.00g
Mass of pure iron (III) oxide reacted = 3.192g (from part b(i))
Percentage purity=TotalmassofimpuresubstanceMassofpuresubstance×100%
Percentage purity=4.00g3.192g×100%
Percentage purity=0.798×100%
Percentage purity=79.8%
Rounding to 3 significant figures:
Percentage purity=79.8%