Chlorophyll, the green pigment in leaves, has the formula C55H72MgN4O5. If 4.5g of Mg is available to a plant for chlorophyll synthesis, how many grams of carbon will be required to completely use up the magnesium? (enter only your numeric answer, not in scientific notation, and with 1 decimal place)

Question

Chlorophyll, the green pigment in leaves, has the formula C55H72MgN4O5.  If 4.5g of Mg is available to a plant for chlorophyll synthesis, how many grams of carbon will be required to completely use up the magnesium?  (enter only your numeric answer, not in scientific notation, and with 1 decimal place)

oobleck · Answer

It takes 55 moles of C to use up each mole of Mg. So, how many moles of Mg is 4.5g?

DrBob222 · Answer

mm = molar mass am = atomic mass 4.5 g Mg x (mm C55H72MgN4O5/am Mg)*55 = g C

DrBob222 · Answer

oops. My solution needs work. I left out a step. It should be this.
4.5 g Mg x (mm C55H72MgN4O5/am Mg) x (55/mm C55H72MgN4O5) x 12 = grams Carbon.
A shorter solution is 4.5 g Mg x (55*am C/am Mg) = grams carbon. Sorry about that.