Finding molar mass of unknown element

[mjolnir80]

Homework Statement

element X reacts with oxygen to produce a pure sample of X₂O₃ . in an experiment, it is found that 1.0g of X produces 1.1596g of X₂O₃ . what is the molar mass of X?

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution

well we can write a equation for it 4X + 3O2 ---> 2X2O3
from this we can see that 4 moles of X gives 2 moles of X2O3.
so 4*x(x is molar mass of X)g of X gives 2x+96 g of X2O3
where do we go from here?

 

[Borek]

You don't need reaction equation to solve the question. Can you calculate number of moles of metal knowing number of moles of oxygen? Can you calculate mass of oxygen from the numbers given?

 

[Blueshift5]

To find the molar mass of X, we can use the given information that 1.0g of X produces 1.1596g of X2O3. This means that 1 mole of X produces 1 mole of X2O3. Therefore, we can set up a proportion:

1.0g X / 1.1596g X2O3 = x g X / 2 x 1.1596g X2O3

Solving for x, we get the molar mass of X to be 2.3192 g/mol.