Finding Mass of Solute: Equation & Experiment Ideas

[Sayuri09]

Homework Statement

I'm doing an experiment for Science Fair, and one of the parts requires that I know the mass of a solute (NaCl) dissolved in a solvent (water). Is there any equation I can use to find this? I cannot use concentration, but I have the total mass of the solution, the total volume of the solution, and the molar mass of the solute (NaCl). I can also calculate the total density of the solution, so let's add that, as well.

Homework Equations

For the solute:
Mass = Molarity x Molar Mass x Volume

The Attempt at a Solution

Using the equation above, I've tried to plug in different variables in the place of variables I didn't know up-front.

Mass = Molarity x Molar Mass x Volume
Mass = (Moles / Volume) x Molar Mass x Volume
Mass = ((Mass / Molar Mass) / Volume) x Molar Mass x Volume
Mass = ((Mass / Molar Mass) / (Mass / Density)) x Molar Mass x (Mass / Density)

Of course, simplifying all of this cancels Mass, what I was trying to find in the first place, which makes me wonder why I even did all of that substitution for nothing.

I'm thinking there's a different, better way to do this, probably a different equation. But, also, because I am doing this within an experiment, any hands-on method would work, too (just something feasible, please?).

Thanks in advance!

 

[Borek]

Basically you can't do anything without knowing more. You can use density tables to check out concentration.

--
methods