Final answer:
When 61.7 g of CuSO₄·5H₂O dissolves in water, 0.247 moles of CuSO₄·5H₂O are formed. This results in the release of 0.494 moles of ions, which rounds to the closest answer choice, D. 0.4 moles.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine how many total moles of ions are released when 61.7 g of CuSO₄·5H₂O dissolves in water, we first need to find the number of moles of CuSO₄·5H₂O. The molar mass of CuSO₄·5H₂O is approximately 249.68 g/mol (63.55 for Cu + 32.07 for S + 64.00 for O₄ + 90.08 for 5H₂O). To calculate the moles of CuSO₄·5H₂O:
moles of CuSO₄·5H₂O = 61.7 g / 249.68 g/mol ≈ 0.247 moles
When one mole of CuSO₄·5H₂O dissolves in water, it releases one mole of Cu²⁺ ions and one mole of SO₄²⁺ ions. Thus, for 0.247 moles of CuSO₄·5H₂O, a total of 0.247 moles of Cu²⁺ plus 0.247 moles of SO₄²⁺ ions will be released, amounting to 0.247 * 2 = 0.494 moles of ions.
The closest answer choice is D. 0.4 moles. Note that the exact value is slightly higher than 0.4 but none of the other answer choices are closer.