Working Chemistry Problems Introductory Chemistry

by Steven Cooke, MChE, FAIC

Chemistry is really a combination of different languages. That is what makes it difficult to
comprehend at first. The first language is that of the chemical terms themselves, used to
describe quantities and relationships in order to understand how chemicals interact. The
second is that of mathematics, which requires an understanding of the symbols, hierarchy of
operations, and notations used to express quantitative relationships. They are necessary to
convert the descriptive language into a chemically useful result.
The key to working this type of problem is to make sure that you work it out dimensionally first.
ANY numbers can be jumbled together and manipulated to give you another number. That is
probably NOT the answer to the question! You must make sure that the dimensions of your
equations come out to the same dimensions desired in your answers. That is called
dimensional analysis in engineering.
To apply it to chemistry problems, use the following steps:
1) Read the problem carefully and identify what the final answer is supposed to look like. It
will almost never be in the same form as the original data given.
2) Look at the data given, and right down the dimensions used, without the numbers.
3) Figure out what dimensions need to be applied mathematically to end up with the final
answer dimensions from the data dimensions given.
4) Plug in the data numbers and the identified dimensional conversion factors needed to
arrive at the final numeric solution in terms of the chemical dimensions required.
Lets look at a couple of examples:
Calculate the number of C, H, and O atoms in 1.50 g of ethanol (C2H5OH)?
1)
2)
3)
4)

We want to know the number of ATOMS of some elements in a compound.

We are given the compound molecular formula and a weight.
We need to convert a molecular formula and a weight to atoms.
A molecular formula is a short-hand for the number of atoms in a unit (Mole) of a
compound. So, the numbers of each atom can be expressed as atoms/mole.
5) The molecular weight is the corresponding mass of a unit (Mole) of the compound,
expressed as g/Mole. It is the sum of the atomic weights of the constituent atoms.
6) So, if we know how many Moles of the compound we have and the numbers of atoms of
each element in the compound, we can use Avogadros number of molecules/Mole to
find out how many molecules are in that amount of the compound and the
atoms/molecule of each element to arrive at the desired answer.
Dimensionally we have:
g/(g/Mole) * molecules/Mole * atoms/molecule = atoms

g/(g/Mole) * molecules/Mole * atoms/molecule = atoms

Mathematically we have:
1.50g/(46g/mole) * 6.022x1023 molecules/1 mole * 2 C atoms/mole C2H5OH =
3.92 x 1022 C atoms
1.50g/(46g/mole) * 6.022x1023 molecules/1 mole * 6 H atoms/mole C2H5OH =
11.78 x 1022 H atoms
1.50g/(46g/mole) * 6.022x1023 molecules/1 mole * 1 O atoms/mole C2H5OH =
1.96 x 1022 O atoms

Formula Conversions:
An analysis of a compound gives the following percent composition by mass; C:50.5 %, H:
7.3%; S: 20.4 %; O:21.8%. Calculate its empirical formula. What is its molecular formula given
that its molar mass is about 440g?
1) We want an answer in terms of atoms/molecule.
2) Given percentages by weight, we can convert those to molar ratios using the molecular
weight of the atoms: g/mole
3) Deriving the molar ratios, we normalize them to whole numbers (since atoms cant exist
as fractions) to get the basic, or empirical formula.
4) To get the Molecular formula, we need the ratio of the actual molar mass to the empirical
formula weight.
Initially assume 100g then % may be directly converted to mass in g:
nC = 50.5g C * 1 mol C/12.01g C
nH =

7.3g H * 1 mol H/1.008g H = 7.34 mol H

nS = 20.4g S * 1 mol S/32.07g S

nO =

= 4.2 mol C

= 0.66 mol S

21.8g O * 1 mol O/16.00g O = 1.36 mol O

This gives us a raw empirical formula of: C4.2H7.34S0.66O1.36 To get whole numbers (Normalize
the values) divide each subscript by the lowest subscript:
4.2/0.66 ~ 6

7.34/0.66 ~ 10
0.66/0.66 = 1
1.36/0.66 ~ 2
Therefore, the empirical formula is C6H10SO2
6(12.01g) C + 10(1.008g) H + 1(32.07g) S + 2(16.00g) O = 146.79g
molar mass = 440g
empirical molar mass = 146.79g

440/146.79 = 3

Therefore, the molecular formula is 3 x C6H10SO2 or C18H30S3O6

Reaction Example:
Calculate the volume of a 0.156 M HCl Solution that would react with a 3.54g of zinc?
1) We want a final answer of a volume.
2) We have a description of a chemical reaction. We are given Molarity of a solution and
mass of a reactant.
3) Convert the chemical reaction description into a chemical equation to determine the
relationships. This will give us ratios in terms of moles.
4) Convert the grams of zinc into Moles with its molecular weight.
5) Use the chemical reaction equation to find the volume of reactant needed, given its
molarity (Moles/Liter).
The balanced equation will look like this: 2HCl + Zn ZnCl2 + 2H ; This shows that it takes 2
moles of HCl to react with 1 mole of Zn.
First determine how many moles of zinc (the atomic mass of zinc is 65.39):
3.54g Zn * (1mol Zn/65.39g Zn) = 0.054 mol Zn
Now determine the equivalent amount of HCl solution:
0.054 mol Zn * (2 mol HCl/1 mol Zn) * L/0.156 mol) = 0.692L HCl solution
Precipitation with Limiting Reagent:
Calculate the mass of precipitate formed when 1.37L of 0.0782 M Zn(OH)2 are mixed with 4.21 L
of 0.0756 M Na2SO4?
1) We want a final answer of a mass.
2) We have a description of a chemical reaction. We are given Molarity and volumes of two
reactant solutions.
3) Convert the chemical reaction description into a chemical equation to determine the
relationships. This will give us ratios in terms of moles.
4) Convert the molarities and solution volumes into Moles of reactants.

5) Use the chemical reaction equation to find the amounts of reactants reacted,
remembering that there may not be enough of both to give a complete reaction.
6) Convert the final moles of product into the weight by using the molecular weight.
Zn(OH)2 + Na2SO4 --> ZnSO4(s) + 2NaOH (ions in solution)

0.0782M Zn(OH)2 = x mol/1.37L ==> x = (1.37L) * (0.0782M) = 0.107mol Zn(OH)2

0.0756M Na2SO4 = x/4.21L ==> x = (4.21L) * (0.0756M) = 0.318mol Na2SO4
You must remember to determine the precipitate and balance the reaction! The compounds in
solution would just stay there if they didn't react to form an insoluble precipitate.
You can see that 1 mole of Zn(OH)2 will react with one mole of Na2SO4 to form 1 mole of ZnSO4.
However, we only have 0.107 mol of Zn(OH)2 and 0.318 mol of Na2SO4, as calculated. So, we
will end up with 0.107 mole of ZnSO4, as once the Zn(OH)2 is used up, there will be no more
precipitate formed.
Thus, the amount of precipitate is: 0.107 mol x 161.39g/mol ZnSO4 = 17.3g ZnSO4