Final answer:
To convert 15.9 g of copper sulfate to copper hydroxide, you would need 7.98 g of sodium hydroxide.
Step-by-step explanation:
The balanced chemical equation for the reaction between copper sulfate and sodium hydroxide is:
CuSO₄ (aq) + 2NaOH (aq) → Cu(OH)₂ (s) + Na₂SO₄ (aq)
To calculate the mass of sodium hydroxide needed to convert 15.9 g of copper sulfate to copper hydroxide, we can use the molar ratios from the balanced equation.
First, calculate the molar mass of copper sulfate (CuSO₄) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH).
The molar mass of CuSO₄ is 159.6 g/mol (63.5 g/mol for copper x 1 + 32.1 g/mol for sulfur + (16.0 g/mol for oxygen x 4)).
The molar mass of NaOH is 40.0 g/mol (22.99 g/mol for sodium + 1.01 g/mol for hydrogen + 16.0 g/mol for oxygen).
Next, use the molar mass to convert the mass of copper sulfate to moles.
Moles of CuSO₄ = 15.9 g / 159.6 g/mol = 0.0997 mol
According to the balanced equation, the mole ratio between CuSO₄ and NaOH is 1:2. This means that for every 1 mole of CuSO₄, we need 2 moles of NaOH.
Therefore, the moles of NaOH needed = 2 moles x 0.0997 mol = 0.1994 mol
Finally, use the molar mass of NaOH to convert the moles of NaOH to grams.
Mass of NaOH = 0.1994 mol x 40.0 g/mol = 7.98 g
Therefore, you would need 7.98 g of sodium hydroxide to convert 15.9 g of copper sulfate to copper hydroxide.