Solving Stoichiometry Problems

Molecular weight of a substance

Mole Conversions
Isotopic abundances
Empirical Formulas
Combustion Analysis
Empirical and Molecular Formulas
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How to calculate the molecular weight of a substance

Here's how: multiply each element's atomic weight by how many atoms are present in the formula,
then add the answers.
Example - Al2(SO4)3
There are: two atoms of aluminum and the atomic weight of Al is 26.98 amu.
three atoms of sulfur and the atomic weight of S is 32.06 amu.
twelve atoms of oxygen and the atomic weight of O is 16.00 amu.
First multiply:
2 x 26.98 = 53.96 total weight of all Al in formula
3 x 32.06 = 96.18 total weight of all S in formula
12 x 16.00 = 192.00 total weight of all O in formula
Then add: 53.96 + 96.18 + 192.00 = 342.14 amu.
This answer, 342.14 amu, represents the molecular weight of Al2(SO4)3
The molar mass of a substance is the molecular weight in grams.
All you need to do is calculate the molecular weight and stick the unit "g/mol" after the number and
that is the molar mass for the substance in question.

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Mole Conversions: Given Moles, Convert to Grams

There are three steps to converting moles of a substance to grams:
Determine how many moles are given in the problem.
Calculate the molar mass of the substance.
Multiply step one by step two.

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Mole Conversions - Given Grams, Convert to Moles

Determine how many grams are given in the problem.

Calculate the molar mass of the substance.
Divide step one by step two.

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Mole Conversions Calculating the Mass of One Molecule

Calculate the molar mass of the substance
Divide it by Avogadro's Number
Example. Calculate the mass (in grams) of one molecule of CH3COOH
The molar mass of CH3COOH is 60.06 g/mol. The solution is:
60.06 g/mol 6.022 x 1023 mol1 = 9.973 x 1023 g

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Calculate the isotopic abundances when given the average

atomic weight and the isotopic weights
(exact weight of isotope #1) (abundance of isotope #1) + (exact
weight of isotope #2) (abundance of isotope #2) = average atomic
weight of the element
Example: Copper is made up of two isotopes, Cu-63 (62.9296 amu) and Cu-65 (64.9278 amu). Given
copper's atomic weight of 63.546, what is the percent
1) Write the following equation:
(62.9296) (x) + (64.9278) (1 - x) = 63.546
Once again, notice that 'x' and 'one minus x' add up to one.
2) Solve for x:
x = 0.6915 (the decimal abundance for Cu-63)

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Percent Composition
Percent composition is the percent by mass of each element present in a
compound.
1. figure out the molar mass from the formula.
2. figure out the grams each atom contributes by multiplying the atomic weight by
the subscript.
3. divide the answer for each atom by the molar mass and multiply by 100 to get a
percentage.

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Empirical Formula
The formula of a compound expressed as the smallest possible whole-number ratio of subscripts of the
elements in the formula
Molecular Formula
Empirical Formula
Percent to mass
H2O
H2O
Mass to mole
CH3COOH
CH2O
Divide by small
CH2O
CH2O
Multiply 'til whole
C6H12O6
CH2O
Percent to mass: the assumption of 100 grams is purely
for convenience sake.

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Example
A compound is analyzed and found to contain 68.54% carbon, 8.63% hydrogen, and 22.83% oxygen. The molecular
weight of this compound is known to be approximately 140 g/mol. What is the empirical formula? What is the
molecular formula? 1) Percent to mass. Assume 100 grams of the substance is present, therefore its composition is:

carbon: 68.54 grams

hydrogen: 8.63 grams
oxygen: 22.83 grams
(2) Mass to moles. Divide each mass by the proper atomic weight.
carbon: 68.54 / 12.011 = 5.71 mol
hydrogen: 8.63 / 1.008 = 8.56 mol
oxygen: 22.83 / 16.00 = 1.43 mol
(3) Divide by small:
carbon: 5.71 1.43 = 3.99
hydrogen: 8.56 1.43 = 5.99
oxygen: 1.43 1.43 = 1.00
(4) Multiply 'til whole. Not needed since all values came out whole.
The empirical formula of the compound is C4H6O

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Combustion Analysis

1) Determine the grams of each element present in the original compound.

Carbon is always in CO2 in the ratio (12.011 g / 44.0098 g), hydrogen is always in
H2O in the ratio (2.0158 g / 18.0152 g), etc.
2) Convert grams of each elment to the number of moles. You do this by dividing
the grams by the atomic weight of the element.
3) Divide each molar amount by the lowest value, seeking to modify the molar
amounts into small, whole numbers.

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Example
A 1.50 g sample of hydrocarbon undergoes complete combustion to produce 4.40 g of CO2 and 2.70 g of
H2O. What is the empirical formula of this compound?
Solution:
1) Determine the grams of carbon in 4.40 g CO2 and the grams of hydrogen in 2.70 g H2O.
carbon: 4.40 g x (12.011 g / 44.0098 g) = 1.20083 g
hydrogen: 2.70 g x (2.0158 g / 18.0152 g) = 0.3021482 g
2) Convert grams of C and H to their respective amount of moles.
carbon: 1.20083 g / 12.011 g/mol = 0.09998 mol
hydrogen: 0.3021482 g / 1.0079 g/mol = 0.2998 mol
3) Divide each molar amount by the lowest value, seeking to modify the above molar amounts into
small, whole numbers.
carbon: 0.09998 mol / 0.09998 mol = 1
hydrogen: 0.2998 mol / 0.09998 mol = 2.9986 = 3

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Empirical and Molecular Formulas

Combustion analysis can only determine the empirical formula of a compound; it cannot
determine the molecular formula. However, other techniques can determine the molecular
weight. Once we know this value, coupled with the empirical formulas, we can easily calculate
what the molecular formula is.
Example. Caffeine has the following percent composition: carbon 49.48%, hydrogen 5.19%,
oxygen 16.48% and nitrogen 28.85%. Its molecular weight is 194.19 g/mol. What is its
molecular formula?
Solution: (1) calculate the empirical formula, (2) compare "EFW" to molecular weight, (3)
multiply empirical formula by proper scaling factor.
1) Calculate the empirical formula:

carbon: 49.98 g 12.011 g/mol = 4.16

hydrogen: 5.19 g 1.008 g/mol = 5.15
nitrogen: 28.85 g 14.007 g/mol = 2.06
oxygen: 16.48 g 15.999 g/mol = 1.03

carbon: 4.16 1.03 = 4.04 = 4

hydrogen: 5.15 1.03 = 5
nitrogen: 2.06 1.03 = 2
oxygen: 1.03 1.03 = 1
2) Empirical formula is C4H5N2O. The "empirical formula weight" is about 97.1, which gives a scaling factor of two.
3) The molecular formula is C8H10N4O2.

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Homework problem
Hemoglobin is the protein that transports oxygen in mammals. Different species of
mammals have slightly different forms of hemoglobin. One form of hemoglobin is
0.348% Fe by mass, and each hemoglobin molecule contains four iron atoms.
Calculate the molar mass of this form of hemoglobin.

Solution
According to the periodic table, the atomic mass for a Fe atom is 55.85 amu. Then
4 Fe atoms have a mass of 4 x 55.85 amu = 223.4 amu. This represents 0.348% of
the molecular mass of the hemoglobin. The decimal equivalent of 0.348% =
0.348/100 = 0.00348. If x = the molecular mass of the hemoglobin, then
223.4 amu = 0.00348x
x = 66,700 amu

The molar mass = 64,195 g/mol

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