Chapter 3, Problem 97A

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation : The grams of silver present in the sample of amalgam are to be calculated.

Concept Introduction : An equivalent measurement ratio is referred to as a conversion factor. An effective approach for resolving conversion problems where measurement in one unit is changed to an equivalent measurement in another is dimensional analysis.

Answer to Problem 97A

The silver present in the sample of the amalgam is $\text{16}\text{.25}\text{g}$ .

Explanation of Solution

The amalgam is a mixture of metals.

The amalgam consists of 26.0 g of silver, 10.8 g of tin, 2.4 g of copper, and 0.8 g of zinc.

To find the grams of silver in the sample, first, calculate the percentage of silver in amalgam.’

The percentage of silver in amalgam is calculated by dividing the gram of silver by the total mass of amalgam and multiplying by 100 to get the value in percentage.

The mass of amalgam is given as

  $\begin{array}{c}\text{mass}\text{=}\text{26}\text{g}\text{+}\text{10}\text{.8 g}\text{+}\text{2}\text{.4}\text{g}\text{+}\text{0}\text{.8}\text{g}\\ \text{=}\text{40}\text{g}\end{array}$

The percentage of silver given as

  $\begin{array}{c}\text{\%silver}\text{=}\frac{26\text{g}}{40\text{g}}\times 100\%\\ =65\%\end{array}$

To calculate the silver in the sample, multiply the percentage of silver by the gram of the sample.

  $\begin{array}{c}\text{mass}\text{of}\text{silver}\text{=}\frac{65}{100}\times 25\text{g}\\ \text{=16}\text{.25}\text{g}\end{array}$