AS LEVEL

TOPIC 1: CALCULATIONS

Ø Relative atomic mass (RAM, Ar) : The weighted mean(average) mass of an atom
compared to 1/12 of the mass of an atom of Carbon-12.

Ex: the relative atomic mass of of Magnesium is 24,

Ø Relative formula mass (Mr) : The weighted mean(average) mass of a compound

compared to 1/12 of the mass of an atom of Carbon-12.

Ex: the relative formula mass of carbon dioxide is 44.

Ø Molar mass (M)/ unit : g/mol : the mass per mole of any substance.

Ex : 1 mole of Mg is 24 g/mol, 1 mole of H2SO4 is 98.1 g/mol.

Mass – Mole / Mole – Mass conversations :

mass of substance (g)

Amount of substance (moles) =

molar mass of substance (g mol-1 )

Formulae :

m (g) m (g)
n (mol) = m(g) m(g)= n (mol) x Mr ( g mol-) Mr(g mol-) =
Mr ( g mol-) n (mol)

Examples of working out the amounts in moles

Substance O2 H2 O
Mass in g 5.26 100
Molar mass g/mol 32.0 18.0
Amount in mol 0.164 5.56

1
1) 0.0222mol of an oxide of sulfur has a mass of 1.42g. Calculate its molar mass.
include the units in your calculation.

2) Calculate :
a) The amount of substance(moles) in 4.44g of sodium sulfate, Na2SO4

b) The mass of 0.22moles of magnesium chloride, MgCl2

c) The molar mass of a substance where 0.00575 moles has a mass of 0.2645g

The Avogadro Constant: it is the number of particles (atoms, molecules, ions,

compounds, electrons, etc. ) in one mole of any substance.

• There are 6.02 x 1023 helium atoms in 4 g (1 mole ) of He

• 6.02 x 1023 CO2 molecules in 44 g (1 mole) of CO2
• 6.02 x 1023 of nitrate ions in 62 g (1 mole) of NO3-
• 1 mole of NaCO3 contains 6.02 x 1023 pairs of Na+ and Cl- ions, which is 6.02 x 1023 of sodium
ions and 6.02 x 1023 chloride ions.
• 1 mole of CaCl2 contains 6.02 x 1023 calcium ions and 2x6.02 x 1023 = 1.204 x 1024 of chloride
ions.

Number of particles = amount of substance (in moles) x Avogadro constant (NA)

Formula : No. of particles = n x NA

2
3) Calculate the number of water molecules in 1.44 mol of water

4) Calculate the number of molecules in 3.33 g of methane (CH4)

5) Calculate the number of Na+ ions in 2.22g of sodium sulfate, Na2SO4

6) Calculate the number of;

a) ions in 0.0123 mol of aluminium sulfate, Al2(SO4)3

b) carbon atoms in 1.23g of ethanoic acid, CH3COOH

c) oxygen atoms in 0.01 mol of CO2

3
d) hydroxide ions in 10 g of Ba(OH)2

7) How many hydrogen atoms are there in 20 g of C2H6

8) Calculate the total number of ions in 35 g of Ca(OH)2

9) How many atoms are there in 2 g of P3 ?

10) How many molecules are there in 4 g of sulfur dioxide ?

11) How many OH- ions are there in 3.8 g of Fe(OH)3 ?

4
12) Calculate the amount ,in moles, of CH4 molecules that contains 1.806 X 1021
molecules.

13) Calculate the amount, in moles, of SO2 molecules that contains 2.408 x 1020
oxygen atoms.

14) Calculate the mass,in g, of MgSO4 that contains 3.612 x 1021 sulfate ions.

15) Calculate the mass,in g, of Al2 (CO3)3 that contains 1,505x 1023 carbonate ions.

5
 CALCULATIONS FROM CHEMICAL EQUATIONS

MASS TO MASS CALCULATIONS

1) Calculate the mass of barium sulfate that is precipitated when a solution

containing 5.55g of barium chloride, BaCl2 is reacted with excess magnesium
sulfate.

BaCl2(aq) + MgSO4(aq) → BaSO4 (s) + MgCl2 (aq)

2) Calculate the mass of sodium sulfate produced when 3.45 g of sodium hydroxide
is neutralised by dilute sulfuric acid. The equation is:

2NaOH + H2SO4→ Na2SO4 + 2H2O

3)

20 tonnes of aluminium ?

6
VOLUME OF GAS CALCULATIONS

Volume occuped by 1 mol of all gases at a given temperature and pressure is the
same.

The molar volume of a gas is the volume occupied by 1 mol of the gas under
specified conditions of temperature and pressure.

At laboratory conditions molar volume is given as 24 dm3 mol-1 = 24 000 cm3 mol-1

Volume of gas (cm3 / dm3)

Amount (moles) of gas =

Molar volume (cm3 mol-1 / dm3 mol-1)

1) Calculate the volume,in cm3 of carbon dioxide produced when 2.68 g of calcium
carbonate is heated and decomposes according to the equation:

CaCO3 (s) → CaO (s) + CO2 (g)

2) The average family motorist uses about 1000kg of petrol each year. Assume that
the molecular formula of petrol is C8H18 and the equation fort he reaction is :

C8H18 + 12 ½ O2 → 8CO2 + 9H2O

Calculate :

The yearly volume, in dm3 of carbon dioxide produced at rtp

7
VOLUME OF GAS TO VOLUME OF GAS CALCULATIONS

Equal volume of gases measured at the same temperature and pressure, contain the
same number of molecules.

This means that if there is twice the number of moles, the volume is doubled- as lon
as both substances are gases.

1) Calculate the volume of oxygen gas needed to burn completely 200 cm3 of
gaseous butane.

2C4H10(g) + 13O2 (g) → 8CO2 (g) + 10H2O(l)

2) Calculate the volume of oxygen needed to react with 123 cm3 of gaseous
methane, CH4

CH4 (g) + 2O2 (g) → CO2(g) + 2H2O (l)

3) Calculate the volume of chlorine needed to react with 25 cm3 of methane.

CH4(g) + 4Cl2 (g) → CCl4 (l) +4HCl (g)

8
PERCENTAGE YIELD CALCULATIONS

In the laboratory, when you are making a product, you want to obtain as much of it as
possible from the reactants you start with. In industry, where reactions occur on a
much larger scale, and there is economic competition between manufacturers, it is
even more important to maximise the product of a reaction.

There are some reasons why the mass of a reaction product may be less than the
maximum possible.

• The reaction is reversible so may not be complete

• There are side-reactions that lead to other products that are not wanted
• The product may need to be purified, which may result in loss of product

Exam hint : You may be asked in a question to suggest why you have a low yield. If
so, you should give a specific example such as ‘some solution was left on the filter
paper during filttration.

The actual yield is always smaller than the theoretical yield because:

1. Some of the product could be lost. Some product can be lost – e.g. when the reaction
mixture is transferred between containers or when a solution is filtered using filter
paper.
2. Some reactants don’t react. Not all of the reacting chemicals at the start of the
reaction will completely react. These reacting chemicals may remain unreacted until
the reaction is finished.
3. Other waste products could be made. Some of the reactants in the reaction may go
on to form other products rather than the desired products. This will occur if there are
side reactions that are happening at the same time as the desired reaction. If you wish
to make magnesium hydroxide by reacting magnesium with water, then any hydrogen
gas produced is a waste product.

Theoretical yield

It is always assumed that the reaction goes to completion, with no losses.

Actual yield

This is the actual mass obtained by weighing the product obtained, not by calculation

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1) Copper(II) carbonate is decomposed to obtain copper(II) oxide.

CuCO3 ® CuO +CO2

What is the theoretical yield of copper(II) oxide obtainable from 5.78g of copper(II)
carbonate ?

2) A manufacturer has obtained methanol from carbon monoxide and hydrogen

according to the reaction below:

CO + 2H2 ® CH3OH

He obtains 4.07 tonnes of methanol starting from 4.32 tonnes of carbon monoxide.

What is the percentage yield ?

3) When 1000g of sulfur dioxide is reacted with excess oxygen, 1225g of sulfur
trioxide is produced.

2SO2 + O2→ 2SO3

Calculate the % yield.

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ATOM ECONOMY

Percentage yield is an important factor to take into consideration however other

factors include should also be considered:

• The availability or scarcity of non-renewable raw materials

• The cost of raw materials
• The quantity of energy needed

Mass of atoms in desired product

% atom economy = x 100
Total mass of atoms in reactants /
products
Consider the two main processes in the manufacture of phosphoric acid :

Process 1: Ca3(PO4)2 + 3H2SO4® 2H3PO4 + 3CaSO4

Process 2: P4 + 5O2+ 6H2O ® 4H3PO4

What you can see from these equations is that all of the atoms in the starting
materials for process 2 end up in the desired product. It has 100% atom economy
because there is only one product.

In process 1, many of the atoms end up in an unwanted product, calcium sulfate.

Process 1 has a lower atom economy than process 2.

Lets calculate the atom economy for process 1.

Exam hint :

• Addition reactions have 100% atom economy

• Elimination reactions have lower atom economies
• Multistep reactions may have even lower atom economies.
• If there is more than one product, you will need time and energy to seperate
the desired product from the mixture

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1) Calculate the atom economy for the reaction that produces the hydrogen for the
Haber process: CH4 + 2H2O ↔ CO2 + 4H2

2) sulfuric acid is manufactured from sulfur,oxygen and water.The overall equation is:

2S + 3O2 + 2H2O → 2H2SO4

32 tonnes of sulfur produced 95 tonnes of sulfuric acid.

a) calculate the % yield

b) What is the atom economy of the process ? Explain your answer.

3) A manufacturer of ethene wants to convert some ethene into 1,2-dichloroethane.

He considers 2 possible reactions:

Reaction 1 : C2H4 + Cl2 → C2H4Cl2

Reaction 2: 2C2H4 + 4HCl + O2→ 2C2H4Cl2 + 2H2O

Explain, without doing any calculations, which reaction would be a good choice on
the basis of atom economy.

12
LIMITING AND EXCESS REAGENTS:

When a reaction is carried out in the laboratory, the reactants are not always present
in the exact mole ratio determined by the equation. As a result, one reactant is used
completely, some of the other reactant is left over.

The reagent left over is said to be excess

The one used completely is said to be the limiting reagent.

The limiting reagent is the substance that determines the theorotical yield of product
in a reaction.

1)

a)

b)

2)

a)

b)

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3) Solutions containing 12.8g of sulfuric acid and 10 g of sodium hydroxide are mixed
and produce sodium sulfate and water according to the following equation:

2NaOH + H2SO4→ Na2SO4 + 2H2O

Deduce the limiting reagent and hence calculate the mass of sodium sulfate
produced.

4) 7.95g copper(II) oxide is mixed with a solution containing 7.35 g of sulfuric acid.

The equation for the reaction is :

CuO + H2SO4→ CuSO4 + H2O

a) Determine which is the limiting reagent.

b) Hence, calculate the mass of CuSO4 produced.

c) On evaporation of the solution, 16.3g of crystals of CuSO4.5H2O were formed:

CuSO4 → CuSO4.5H2O

Calculate the % yield.

14
CONCENTRATION CALCULATIONS

Calculations using mass concentrations and molar concentrations

Mass of solute (g)

Mass concentration ( g dm-3) =

Volume of solution (dm3)

Moles(mol)

Molar concentration ( mol dm-3) =

Volume of solution (dm3)

1) a) Calculate the concentration in mol dm-3 of a solution made by dissolving 0.123

mol of sodium hydroxide in water and making up the solution to a total volume of 250
cm3.

b) Calculate the concentration of this solution in g dm-3.

2) Calculate the mass of hydrated sodium carbonate, Na2CO3.10H2O, that is required

to make up 250 cm3 of a 0.1 mol dm-3 solution.

15
3) Calculate the amount of sulfuric acid in 22.4 cm3 of 0.0502 mol dm-3 solution.

4) Calculate the volume of a 0.05 mol dm-3 solution of sulfuric acid that contains
0.026 mol

5) An excess of magnesium is added to 100cm3 of 1.5 mol dm-3 hydrochloric acid.

Mg + 2HCl → MgCl2 + H2

What mass of hydrogen is formed ?

6) A mass of 47.8g magnesium carbonate reacts with 2.5 mol dm-3 hydrochloric acid.

MgCO3 + 2HCl → MgCl2 + H2O + CO2

7) In a titration, neutralisation of 25 cm3 of 0.1 mol dm-3 hydrochloric acid solution

required 26.8 cm3 of sodium hydroxide solution.

NaOH + HCl → NaCl + H2O

16
8) 25 cm3 of a 0.0504 mol dm-3 solution of sulfuric acid was titrated with a solution of
sodium hydroxide. The mean titre was 27.3 cm3.

2NaOH + H2SO4→ Na2SO4 + 2H2O

Calculate the concentration of sodium hydroxide solution.

9) Calculate the volume of 0.1 mol dm-3 HCl solution required to neutralise 25 cm3 of
0.0567 mol dm-3 sodium carbonate solution.

2HCl + Na2CO3→ 2NaCl + H2O + CO2

Solution & Gas Concentration Calculations in PPM

17
1) A mass of 23 mg of sodium chloride is dissolved in 900g of water. calculate the
concentration of sodium chloride in the solution in ppm.

2) A sample of river water contains phosphate ions with a concentration of 17 ppm.

What is the mass of phosphate ions in 500g of the river water ?

3) 5000 dm3 of air is found to contain ozone with a concentration of 87 ppm. What
volume of ozone is in this sample of air ?

4)The European Union has set a limit (with effect from January 2010) of 3.13 ppm for the
proportion of the toxic gas carbon monoxide in the air that we breathe.

Calculate the % of CO in air.

5) The concentration of carbon monoxide in the exhaust gases of a car without a catalytic
converter is 0.7 % by volume.
Calculate the concentration in units of parts per million.

18
 Emprical Formula & Molecular Formula:

The emprical formula of a substance is the simplest whole number ratio of the atoms of

each element in the substance.

The molecular formula of a compound shows the number of atoms of each element in

one molecule of the substance.

E.g. : the molecular formula of glucose is C6H12O6. The emprical formula of glucose is

CH2O.

Ø The molar mass ( molecular mass) of glucose is 180 g mol-1

Ø The emprical mass of glucose is 30 g. If you take the molar mass to emprical

mass ratio 180:30 equals to 6:1. The molecular mass is 6 times greater that the

emprical mass. Therefore, molecular formula contains 6 times more atoms than

emprical formula for each atom.

1) 2.4 g magnesium and 1.6 g oxygen reacted together to form magnesium oxide.

Find the formula of the oxide formed.

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2) The diagram shows the apparatus used to form a compound containing iron

and chlorine.

A mass of 2.800 g of iron reacts with 5.325 g of chlorine.

i) Calculate the empirical formula of the compound formed.

(ii) Suggest a name for this compound

........................................................................................................................................

3) Hydrogen is passed over 2.8 g oxide of copper

until there was no further mass change.

2.5 g of copper remained.

Calculate the emprical formula of the oxide.

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 Working out formulae using percentage composition figures.

1) An organic compound contained 66.7% C, 11.1% H and 22.2% O by mass. It’s

RFM value was 72. Find;

i) The empirical formula ii) the molecular formula of the compound

2) Sulfamic acid is a white solid used by plumbers as a limescale remover. Sulfamic

acid contains 14.42 % by mass of nitrogen, 3.09 % hydrogen and 33.06 % sulfur.

The remainder is oxygen.

a) Determine the empirical formula for sulfamic acid.

b) The molar mass of sulfamic acid is 97 g.mol-1 . Find its molecular formula.

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3) Cosmetic powders were widely used in ancient Egypt.

Cosmetic powders that may have been used in face paints have been analysed.
These powders contained compounds that are rare in nature. The compounds must
have been made by the ancient Egyptsians using chemical reactions.

One of these compounds is called phosgenite. Analysis of this compound shows that
it contains;

76 % lead (Pb), 13 % chlorine (Cl), 2.2 % carbon (C) and the remainder is oxygen
(O)

a)Calculate the empirical formula for this compound.

b) The molecular mass of this compound is 1090. What is its molecular formula?

4) 2.22g of an organic compound X containing carbon, hydrogen and oxygen only

was burnt in excess air and 3.26 g of carbon dioxide and 1.33 g of water were
obtained.

Calculate the emprical formula of compound X.

22
5) An organic compound Z has a mass of 3.33 g containing carbon, hydrogen and
oxygen only was burnt in excess air. 7.33 of carbon dioxide and 4 g of water were
obtained.

Calculate the emprical formula of compound Z.

6) An organic compound contains the following by mass, carbon 36.4%’ hydrogen

6.1 %, fluorine 57.5 %. It has a molar mass of 66 g/mol

Calculate its emprical and molecular formula.

7) 0.1 mol of hydrated sodium carbonate , Na2CO3. xH2O, has a mass of 28.6g.

Calcuate its molar mass and hence the number of molecules of water of
crystallisation.

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WORKING OUT FORMULAE AND EQUATIONS FROM REACTING MASSES

1) A 16.7 g sample of a hydrated of sodium carbonate (Na2CO3.10H2O) is heated at

a constant temperature for a specified time until the reaction is complete. A mass of
3.15g of water is obtained. What is the equation for the reaction occuring ?

2) An oxide of copper is heated in a stream of hydrogen to constant mass. The

masses of copper and water formed are Cu= 17.6g amd H2O= 2.56 g. What is the
equation for the reaction occuring ?

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THE IDEAL GAS EQUATION

Ideal Gas Equation to calculate the molar mass

of volatile liquids and gases

CONVERSION HOW TO DO IT
kPa → Pa x 103
cm3→ m3 /10 or x 10-6
6

dm3→ m3 /103 or x 10-3

0
C→K + 273

1) A 0.28 g of sample of a gas has a volume of 58.5 cm3, measured at a pressure of 120 kPa
and a temperature of 700C. Calculate the molar mass of the gas.

2) A solution of sodium nitrite was places in a conical flask and weighted. Using a pipette a
known volume and concentration of ammonium chloride solution was added and the flask is
quickly connected to a gas syringe and placed on an electric heater and gently warmed.

The 2 solutions reacted, giving a gas. When all bubbles had ceased, the flask was weighted.
The laboratory temperature and pressure were measured.

Mass of flask + sodium nitrite = 143.65 g

Mass of ammonium chloride solution = 25 g
Mass of flask after reaction = 168. 6 g
Volume of gas evolved = 45 cm3
Room temperature = 18.5 0C
Room pressure = 100 kPa

Given that the gas constant, R = 8.31 JK-1mol-1, calculate the molar mass of the gas and
hence suggest its identity.

25
 AS CHEMISTRY

TOPIC 1: FORMULAE, EQUATIONS AND AMOUNT OF SUBSTANCE

Definitions & Formulae :

a) An element : An element is a substance that cannot be broken down into two or more different

substances.

b) An atom: An atom is the smallest uncharged particle of an element.

c) A compound : A compound is made of two or more elements chemically joined together.

d) An ion: an ion is a charged atom or group of atoms.

e) A molecule: a particle made of two or more atoms bonded together.

Ex: Molecule of an element ( ex: O2, H2, Cl2), molecule of a compound ( ex: H2O, CO2)

f) The relative atomic mass (RAM) of an element is the weighted average mass of an atom of

that element divided by 1/12 the mass of a carbon-12 atom.

g) The relative molecular mass (RMM) of an element such as (O2) or a compound such as H2O

is the average mass of a molecule of that element or compound divided by the 1/12 the mass of

a carbon-12 atom.

h) The relative formula mass(RFM) of a compound such as NaCl is the average mass of a

compound divided by the 1/12 the mass of a carbon-12 atom.

i) Parts per million (ppm) th number of parts of one substance in one millions of another

substance. (It is used for concentrations of mass or volume of one substance in another.)

26
1) Emprical Formula & Molecular Formula:

The emprical formula of a substance is the simplest whole number ratio of the atoms of each

element in the substance.

The molecular formula of a compound shows the number of atoms of each element in one

molecule of the substance.

E.g. : the molecular formula of glucose is C6H12O6. The emprical formula of glucose is CH2O.

Mole Calculations:

Ø The mole: A mole is the amount of a substance containing the Avogadro constant

number of atoms, molecules or groups of ions.

Ø Avogadro Constant (L or NA) is equal to the number of carbon atoms in exactly 12 g

of the carbon-12 isotope.

One mole of any substance equals the relative molecular mass measured in grams.

Ø Therefore , the molar mass (M) of a substance is the mass of 1 mol of that substance.

Unit : g mol-

2)
Mass – Mole / Mole – Mass conversations :

mass of substance (g)

A mount of substance (moles) =

molar mass of substance (g mol-1 )
27
 3) Volume of gas Calculations :

Volume occuped by 1 mol of all gases at a given temperature and pressure is the same.

The molar volume of a gas is the volume occupied by 1 mol of the gas under specified

conditions of temperature and pressure.

At laboratory conditions molar volume is given as 24 dm3 mol-1 = 24 000 cm3 mol-1

Volume of gas (cm3 / dm3)

Amount (moles) of gas =

Molar volume (cm3 mol-1 / dm3 mol-1)

4) Calculations using mass concentrations and molar concentrations

Mass of solute (g)

Mass concentration ( g dm-3) =

Volume of solution (dm3)

Moles(mol)

Molar concentration ( mol dm-3) =

Volume of solution (dm3)

5) Percentage Yield Calculations

28
6) Atom Economy

7) Ideal Gas Equation to calculate the molar mass of volatile liquids and gases

8) Solution & Gas Concentration Calculations in PPM

29