Final answer:
The mass of potassium chloride produced when 100 g of potassium chlorate decomposes is found by using the balanced chemical equation and the molar masses of the compounds involved. The correct answer is 60.8 g of potassium chloride.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate the mass of potassium chloride produced from the decomposition of 100 g of potassium chlorate, we start by looking at the balanced chemical equation:
2 KClO3 (s) → 2 KCl (s) + 3 O2 (g)
This equation shows that two moles of potassium chlorate decompose to produce two moles of potassium chloride and three moles of oxygen gas. Using the molar masses of potassium chlorate (KClO3) and potassium chloride (KCl), we can find the ratio of their masses to convert from the mass of potassium chlorate to the mass of potassium chloride.
The molar mass of KClO3 is approximately 122.55 g/mol, and the molar mass of KCl is approximately 74.55 g/mol. Thus, the ratio of KCl to KClO3 by mass is 74.55 g / 122.55 g.
Multiplying the mass of potassium chlorate by this ratio gives us the theoretical yield of potassium chloride: (100 g KClO3) × (74.55 g KCl / 122.55 g KClO3) = 60.8 g of KCl.
Therefore, the correct answer is 60.8 g of potassium chloride produced.