Chapter 3, Problem 3.115MP

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation:

The unknown atom $\text{X}$ needs to be determined.

Concept introduction:

A chemical equation represents the formulas of chemical substances which are reacting and produced in a chemical reaction. The number of atoms of the products and reactants needs to be balanced.

According to conservation of mass law, while a chemical reaction occurs, for balancing purpose the mass of the products should be equal to that of reactants. Hence, the amount of the atoms in each element does not change in the chemical reaction.

The relation between number of moles, mass and molar mass is as follows:

$n=\frac{m}{M}$

Here, m is mass and M is molar mass.