Question

After completing the calculations as you did for the data sheet, you determine the compound contains 0.018 mol of aluminum. for an accurate empirical formula, how many moles of sulfur would be present?

Answer 1

To determine the moles of sulfur present in the empirical formula with aluminum, use the molar ratio derived from the given sulfur molar mass data. For 0.018 mol of aluminum and a sulfur to aluminum ratio of approximately 8.1, there should be approximately 0.1458 mol of sulfur.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the accurate empirical formula for a compound containing aluminum and sulfur, you must determine the moles of sulfur present per mole of aluminum. Given that the compound contains 0.018 mol of aluminum, we can reference provided data that suggests 0.708 g of elemental sulfur corresponds to 0.028 mol. If the dissolved sulfur has a molar mass of around 260 g/mol and atomic sulfur has a molar mass of 32 g/mol, then there are approximately 8.1 sulfur atoms for every sulfur atom in the compound. Thus, you would expect approximately 8.1 moles of sulfur for every mole of aluminum, which would mean there should be 0.018 mol Al × 8.1 = 0.1458 mol of sulfur to maintain the empirical formula of S8.