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What minimum mass of HCl in grams would you need to dissolve a 2.8g iron bar on a
padlock?

User Frankish
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1 Answer

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To dissolve an iron bar on a padlock, we need to use hydrochloric acid (HCl), which reacts with iron to form iron(II) chloride and hydrogen gas:

Fe + 2HCl -> FeCl2 + H2

The balanced chemical equation tells us that we need 2 moles of HCl for every 1 mole of Fe that reacts.

First, we need to convert the mass of iron into moles:

2.8 g Fe * (1 mol Fe / 55.845 g Fe) = 0.0501 mol Fe

Next, we can use the mole ratio from the balanced equation to determine how many moles of HCl we need:

0.0501 mol Fe * (2 mol HCl / 1 mol Fe) = 0.1002 mol HCl

Finally, we can convert the moles of HCl into grams using the molar mass of HCl:

0.1002 mol HCl * (36.46 g HCl / 1 mol HCl) = 3.65 g HCl

Therefore, we would need a minimum of 3.65 grams of HCl to dissolve a 2.8-gram iron bar on a padlock.
User Sidhartha
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