What do you divide the mass by to get the concentration of a solute?

You divide by the mass of the solution.

Percent by mass is the mass of the solute divided by the mass of the solution, multiplied by 100.

Example:

You dissolve a 4.00 g sugar cube in 350 mL of tea at 80 °C. The density of water at 80 °C is 0.975 g/mL. What is the percent by mass of sugar in the solution?

Solution

Step 1 — Determine mass of the solute.

The solute is the sugar cube. Mass of solute = 4.00 g.

Step 2 — Determine mass of solvent.

The solvent is the 80 °C water. Use the density of the water to find the mass.

mass of solvent = 350 mL ×

0.975

g

1

mL

= 341 g

Step 3— Determine the total mass of the solution

mass of solution = mass of solute + mass of solvent = 4.00 g + 341 g = 345 g

Step 4 — Determine percent composition by mass of the sugar solution.

% by mass =

mass of solute

mass of solution

× 100 % =

4.00

g

345

g

× 100 % = 1.159 %

The percent composition by mass of the sugar solution is 1.159 %.

n2(g) + 3h2-> 2nh3(g)   this is the balanced equation

note the mole ratio between n2, h2 and nh3.   it is 1 : 3 : 2   this will be important.

moles n2 present = 28.0 g n2 x 1 mole n2/28 g = 1 mole n2 present

moles h2 present = 25.0 g h2 x 1 mole h2/2 g = 12.5 moles h2 present

based on mole ratio, n2 is limiting in this situation because there is more than enough h2 but not enough n2.

moles nh3 that can be produced = 1 mole n2 x 2 moles nh3/mole n2 = 2 moles nh3 can be produced

grams of nh3 that can be produced = 2 moles nh3 x 17 g/mole = 34 grams of nh3 can be produced

note:   the key to this problem is recognizing that n2 is limiting, and therefore limits how much nh3 can be produced.

answer; natural resources;