Hello friends,
The problem is: If all the hydroxyapatite is converted into fluorapatite by what percent does this conversion increase the mass of the enamel?
The molar mass of hydroxyapatite is 502 g/mol and fluorapatite is 504
I started this problem by finding the difference between these and got 2
Then I divided 2 by 502, but in the solutions guide it says to divide 2 by 504....
Why do we divide the difference in molar masses by the final compound's molars instead of the initial compound's molar mass?
HW Problem E35
Moderators: Chem_Mod, Chem_Admin
-
- Posts: 51
- Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 7:06 am
Re: HW Problem E35
I think that the solutions manual made a mistake. I am sure that your are supposed to divide by the initial molar mass of the compound to find the percent change in mass. Either way the answer does remain the same.
-
- Posts: 62
- Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 7:04 am
- Been upvoted: 2 times
Re: HW Problem E35
Ya it most likely is a mistake because there is no reason that you should divide by the final mass since you are trying to compare to the initial mass. If you pretend that there is one mole of hydroxyapatite to start with, and it all turns to fluorapatite, then you would say that there is a 1.99g increase, or a 0.396% increase, which rounds to 0.4%. This is slightly different than the solutions manual has, which is 0.39% (rounded from 0.394% using the formula in this book) which makes it a little difficult to determine that the solutions manual probably has it wrong. However, there is no logical reason to calculate the percentage increase if you're not comparing it to the initial value (before the increase), so you had it right in the beginning.
-
- Posts: 57
- Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2017 3:01 am
Re: HW Problem E35
As a follow-up question for Problem E35, I was wondering how you know the conversion of 1 mol Ca5((PO4)3)OH is exactly 1 mol Ca5((PO4)3)F ? Is it assumed since the problem doesn't state otherwise?
-
- Posts: 70
- Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 7:04 am
Re: HW Problem E35
Grace Ramey 3C wrote:As a follow-up question for Problem E35, I was wondering how you know the conversion of 1 mol Ca5((PO4)3)OH is exactly 1 mol Ca5((PO4)3)F ? Is it assumed since the problem doesn't state otherwise?
That was the whole point of the percent increase problem. If you have a certain number of grams of Ca5((PO4)3)OH divided by the 502 g/mol, that has to be equal to the grams of Ca5((PO4)3)F/504 g/mol. Because of the law of the conservation of mass and the problem states that all of the Ca5((PO4)3)OH was converted, the moles have to the stay the same. However, that is not saying that grams have to stay the same. Think of it in terms of a balanced chemical equation.
-
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2017 11:40 am
Re: HW Problem E35
ahhh thank you guys so much, I really thought that I was making a mistake! Didn't consider it was just a textbook error!
Return to “Molarity, Solutions, Dilutions”
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 9 guests