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Ch.10 - Gases
Chapter 10, Problem 54

The molar mass of a volatile substance was determined bythe Dumas-bulb method described in Exercise 10.53. Theunknown vapor had a mass of 2.55 g; the volume of thebulb was 500 mL, pressure 101.33 kPa, and temperature37 °C.Calculate the molar mass of the unknown vapor.

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1
Convert the temperature from Celsius to Kelvin by adding 273.15 to the Celsius temperature.
Convert the volume from milliliters to liters by dividing by 1000.
Use the ideal gas law equation, PV = nRT, to solve for the number of moles (n) of the gas. Here, P is the pressure in kPa, V is the volume in liters, R is the ideal gas constant (8.314 L·kPa/mol·K), and T is the temperature in Kelvin.
Rearrange the ideal gas law equation to solve for n: n = PV / RT.
Calculate the molar mass by dividing the mass of the vapor (2.55 g) by the number of moles (n) calculated in the previous step.

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Key Concepts

Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.

Ideal Gas Law

The Ideal Gas Law relates the pressure, volume, temperature, and number of moles of a gas through the equation PV = nRT. This law is essential for calculating the molar mass of gases, as it allows us to determine the number of moles (n) from the known values of pressure (P), volume (V), and temperature (T), using the ideal gas constant (R).
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Molar Mass Calculation

Molar mass is defined as the mass of one mole of a substance, typically expressed in grams per mole (g/mol). To calculate the molar mass of a gas using the Ideal Gas Law, we can rearrange the equation to find n (moles) and then use the formula: Molar Mass = mass (g) / n (moles). This allows us to derive the molar mass from the mass of the gas and the conditions under which it was measured.
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Dumas Method

The Dumas method is a technique used to determine the molar mass of volatile substances by measuring the mass of vapor produced in a controlled environment. In this method, the vapor is collected in a bulb, and its properties (mass, volume, pressure, and temperature) are measured to apply the Ideal Gas Law, facilitating the calculation of the substance's molar mass.
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