Final answer:
To determine the number of molecules of H₂O equivalent to 97.2 g, you can use the molar mass of H₂O as a conversion factor to convert grams to moles. Then, use Avogadro's number to calculate the number of molecules.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine the number of molecules of H₂O equivalent to 97.2 g, we need to use the concept of moles. The molar mass of H₂O is 18.015 g/mol. We can use this molar mass as a conversion factor to convert grams to moles. Since we want to know the number of molecules, we can use Avogadro's number, which is approximately 6.022 x 10²³ molecules/mol:
97.2 g H₂O x (1 mol/18.015 g) x (6.022 x 10²³ molecules/1 mol)
= 3.20 x 10²⁴ molecules