Question

E. If magnesium metal was used instead of zinc metal, what is the minimum mass, in grams, of

magnesium metal that should be used to ensure that all of the copper ions in the solution is
converted back to copper metal?
gaudo

Answer 1

To convert all the copper ions to copper metal, approximately 12.16 g of magnesium metal is needed.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the minimum mass of magnesium metal needed to convert all the copper ions to copper metal, we need to consider the balanced chemical equation for the reaction:

2Mg + CuSO4 → Cu + MgSO4

From the equation, we see that 2 moles of magnesium react with 1 mole of copper sulfate to produce 1 mole of copper. The molar mass of magnesium is 24.31 g/mol, and the molar mass of copper is 63.55 g/mol.

Therefore, we can set up a proportion to solve for the mass of magnesium:

(2 moles Mg) / (24.31 g) = (1 mole Cu) / x

Solving for x, we find that the minimum mass of magnesium needed is approximately 12.16 g.

Learn more about conversion of copper ions to copper metal