. The weight percent of oxygen in an oxide that has the formula MO2 is 15.2%. What is the molar mass

Question

of this compound? What element or elements are possible for M

Answer 1

To find the molar mass of the compound MO2, we need to know the molar mass of M. Let's assume M is a single element.

Let's begin by assuming the oxide has a total mass of 100g. Since the weight percent of oxygen is 15.2%, this means the oxide contains 15.2g of oxygen.

The rest of the mass, 100g - 15.2g = 84.8g, must be the mass of element M.

Now, we need to figure out the number of moles of oxygen and M separately.

Moles of oxygen = mass of oxygen / molar mass of oxygen
Moles of oxygen = 15.2g / 16.00g/mol (molar mass of oxygen)
Moles of oxygen ≈ 0.95 mol

Since the formula for the oxide is MO2, for every 2 moles of oxygen, we have 1 mole of M.

Therefore, Moles of M = (0.95 mol of oxygen) / (2 mol of oxygen per mole of M)
Moles of M ≈ 0.475 mol

Finally, we can find the molar mass of M by dividing the mass of M by the moles of M.

Molar mass of M = mass of M / moles of M
Molar mass of M = 84.8g / 0.475 mol
Molar mass of M ≈ 178.10 g/mol

So, the molar mass of the compound MO2 is approximately 178.10 g/mol.

Since M is a general symbol and the identity of the element is not specified, it could represent various elements including transition metals like titanium (Ti), vanadium (V), or transition metal-like elements like silicon (Si) or germanium (Ge).