Chemical Forums
Chemistry Forums for Students => Undergraduate General Chemistry Forum => Topic started by: Caden on October 14, 2014, 11:07:09 AM
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I've been trying to solve this problem: If you react Mg in a crucible filled with air to form MgO and Mg3N2 you end with 0.47g
You then add water which reacts with the Magnesium nitride to form MgO and ammonia gas. The total amount of MgO is 0.486g.
The balanced equations came out as
2Mg + O2 :rarrow: 2MgO
3Mg+ N2 :rarrow: Mg3N2
Mg3N2 + 3H2O :rarrow: 3MgO + 2NH3
I need to figure out how much Mg3N2 I started with.
Beyond that I am stumped. I converted the .486g of MgO into moles, but couldn't see anywhere to go with that. I know there is some algebraic principles involved here but I don't know where to start.
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You need to say what you tried... and also you need to say what the actual question is. What does it want you to find? (I'm guessing, the starting amount of Mg.)
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You have : 0.486g of MgO Using stoichiometric relationship
0.486g MgO x ___1mol MgO____ x____1mol Mg3N2___x___100.95 g/mol Mg3N2_____
40.31 g/molMgO 3mol MgO 1molMg3N2
= 0.406g of Mg3N2
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So 0.486g MgO is equivalent to 0.406g Mg3N2.
But you had a mixture of the two solids, weighing 0.47g. How much Mg3N2 was in that mixture?