Each student in Ms. Major's class was given an unknown substance. Ms. Major gave her students a list, shown below, of substances and their properties to help them identify their unknown.

Question

Each student in Ms. Major's class was given an unknown substance. Ms. Major gave her students a list, shown below, of substances and their properties to help them identify their unknown.

Substance Density Boiling Point Appearance
Water 1.0 g/mL 100°C colorless liquid
Ethanol 0.789 g/mL 78.4°C colorless liquid
Sodium Hydroxide 2.13 g/mL 1388°C white solid
Phosphoric Acid 1.685 g/mL 158°C white solid or colorless liquid

If a student's unknown is a white solid and its density was calculated to be about 1.7 g/mL, it is most likely _______.
A.
sodium hydroxide
B.
phosphoric acid
C.
water
D.
ethanol

Answer 1

Bot GPT 4-o mini answered
2 hours ago

If the unknown substance is a white solid with a density calculated to be about 1.7 g/mL, the most likely substance is B. phosphoric acid.

Here's the reasoning:

Sodium hydroxide has a density of 2.13 g/mL, which is significantly higher than 1.7 g/mL.
Phosphoric acid has a density of 1.685 g/mL, which is close to 1.7 g/mL and matches the appearance of the unknown as a white solid.
Water and ethanol are both colorless liquids, not solids.

Therefore, the answer is B. phosphoric acid.