The mass percent of oxygen in sodium sulfate (Na₂SO₄) is 45%.
To understand this, let's break down the calculation and what it represents:
Understanding Mass Percent
Mass percent is a way to express the concentration of a component within a compound. It tells you what percentage of the compound's total mass is made up by a specific element. In this case, we want to know what percentage of sodium sulfate's mass comes from oxygen.
Calculating the Mass Percent of Oxygen in Sodium Sulfate (Na₂SO₄)
Here's how we arrive at the 45% figure:
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Determine the molar mass of each element in the compound:
- Sodium (Na): 22.99 g/mol
- Sulfur (S): 32.07 g/mol
- Oxygen (O): 16.00 g/mol
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Calculate the total molar mass of the compound (Na₂SO₄):
- (2 * Na) + (1 * S) + (4 * O) = (2 * 22.99) + (1 * 32.07) + (4 * 16.00) = 45.98 + 32.07 + 64.00 = 142.05 g/mol
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Calculate the total mass of oxygen in one mole of Na₂SO₄:
- Since there are four oxygen atoms, the total mass of oxygen is 4 * 16.00 g/mol = 64.00 g/mol
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Calculate the mass percent of oxygen:
- (Mass of oxygen / Molar mass of Na₂SO₄) * 100% = (64.00 g/mol / 142.05 g/mol) * 100% ≈ 45.05%
Therefore, approximately 45% of the mass of sodium sulfate is due to oxygen.
