Final answer:
To react with 40 g of HF, one must determine the moles of HF and use the stoichiometry of the given chemical reaction to find that 1 mole of Sn is required.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks how many moles of tin (Sn) are required to react with 40 g of hydrogen fluoride (HF) based on the chemical equation provided. To find the answer, you use the molar mass of HF to convert grams of HF to moles, and then apply the stoichiometry from the balanced equation.
First, determine the number of moles of HF using its molar mass:
40 g HF × (1 mol HF / 20.01 g HF) = 2 moles of HF
Next, you use the stoichiometry from the equation Sn + 2HF → SnF₂ + H₂ to find the moles of Sn:
2 moles HF × (1 mol Sn / 2 mol HF) = 1 mole of Sn
Therefore, to react with 40 g of HF, 1 mole of Sn is required, which is answer option a.