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A compound with a total mass of 60 g contains 24 grams of carbon, 4 grams of hydrogen, and 32 grams of oxygen. What percentage of the entire compound is oxygen?

a) 20%
b) 40%
c) 53.33%
d) 66.67%

User Loreen
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1 Answer

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Final answer:

The percentage of oxygen in the compound is found by dividing the mass of oxygen by the total mass of the compound and multiplying by 100, resulting in 53.33%.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine what percentage of the entire compound is oxygen, we need to use the given masses of each element in the compound. The total mass of the compound is given as 60 grams, and the mass of oxygen in the compound is 32 grams. To find the percentage of oxygen, the mass of oxygen is divided by the total mass of the compound and then multiplied by 100 to convert it to a percentage.

The calculation is as follows:

Percentage of oxygen = (Mass of oxygen / Total mass of compound) × 100

Percentage of oxygen = (32 g / 60 g) × 100

Percentage of oxygen = 0.5333 × 100

Percentage of oxygen = 53.33%

Therefore, the answer is (c) 53.33%.

User Lewi Uberg
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