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Ch.2 - Atoms & Elements
Chapter 2, Problem 33

The mass ratio of sodium to fluorine in sodium fluoride is 1.21:1. A sample of sodium fluoride produces 28.8 g of sodium upon decomposition. How much fluorine (in grams) forms?

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1
Determine the mass ratio of sodium to fluorine, which is given as 1.21:1. This means for every 1.21 grams of sodium, there is 1 gram of fluorine.
Calculate the total mass of sodium in the sample, which is provided as 28.8 grams.
Using the mass ratio, set up a proportion to find the mass of fluorine. If 1.21 grams of sodium corresponds to 1 gram of fluorine, then 28.8 grams of sodium will correspond to x grams of fluorine.
Solve the proportion: \( \frac{1.21 \text{ g Na}}{1 \text{ g F}} = \frac{28.8 \text{ g Na}}{x \text{ g F}} \). Cross-multiply and solve for x.
The value of x obtained from the proportion will be the mass of fluorine produced upon the decomposition of the sodium fluoride sample.

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Key Concepts

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

Stoichiometry

Stoichiometry is the branch of chemistry that deals with the quantitative relationships between the reactants and products in a chemical reaction. It allows us to calculate the amounts of substances involved based on their molar ratios derived from balanced chemical equations. In this question, stoichiometry is essential for determining how much fluorine is produced from the given amount of sodium.
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Molar Mass

Molar mass is the mass of one mole of a substance, typically expressed in grams per mole (g/mol). It is crucial for converting between the mass of a substance and the number of moles, which is necessary for stoichiometric calculations. For sodium fluoride, knowing the molar masses of sodium and fluorine allows us to relate the mass of sodium to the mass of fluorine produced.
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Mass Ratio

The mass ratio is a comparison of the mass of one substance to the mass of another in a compound. In sodium fluoride, the mass ratio of sodium to fluorine is given as 1.21:1, indicating that for every 1.21 grams of sodium, there is 1 gram of fluorine. This ratio is vital for determining the amount of fluorine produced when a specific mass of sodium is decomposed.
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