Chapter 3, Problem 116AP

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation:

The percentage of each compound in the mixture of ${\text{NaBr and Na}}_2{\text{SO}}_4$ is to be determined with given percent of sodium by mass.

Concept introduction:

Compounds are substances composed of two or more types of identical molecules held together by chemical bonds.

Mass percent gives the relative mass of elements present in a compound.

The mass balance of Na is calculated as

$\text{Mass}\text{of}\text{Na}\text{=}\text{Mass of Na in NaBr}+{\text{Mass of Na in Na}}_2{\text{SO}}_4$

The mass of NaBr is calculated as

$m_{\text{NaBr}}=\text{}\left(\text{g}\text{of}\text{NaBr}\right)\left(\frac{\text{mass}\text{of}\text{Na}}{\text{mass}\text{of}\text{NaBr}}\right)$

The mass of ${\text{Na}}_2{\text{SO}}_4$ is calculated as

$m_{{\text{Na}}_2{\text{SO}}_4}=\text{}\left(\text{g}\text{of}{\text{Na}}_2{\text{SO}}_4\right)\left(\frac{\text{mass}\text{of}\text{Na}}{\text{mass}\text{of}{\text{Na}}_2{\text{SO}}_4}\right)$