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calculate the molarity of the solution. (assume a density of 1.05 g/ml for the solution.)

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Question

An aqueous KNO3 solution is made using 77.8 g of KNO3 diluted to a total solution volume of 2.04 L. Calculate the molarity of the solution. (assume a density of 1.05 g/ml for the solution.)

Final Answer

The molarity of the aqueous KNO₃ solution is approximately 0.377 M.

Explanation

Data: Revealed information
1. Mass of KNO₃ (potassium nitrate) = 77.8 g
2. Total solution volume = 2.04 L
3. Density of the solution = 1.05 g/ml

Unknown: What we need to find
Molarity of the solution
Formula: The equation we need to apply and solve the problem
We need to remember that Molarity (M) is defined as the number of moles of solute per litre of solution.
Thus, we need to use:
Molarity (M) = Moles of a solute / Litres of solution
SI unit: The unit we need to use for our last answer
The si unit of molarity is mol/L which is also known as Molar and the symbol is written as M

Solution:

Step 1: Calculate the moles of KNO₃.
Moles of KNO₃ = Mass / Molar mass
We can now calculate the molar mass of KNO₃ by adding the atomic masses of potassium (K), nitrogen (N), and three oxygen (O) atoms:
Molar mass of KNO₃ = [39.10 + 14.01 + (3 x 16.00)]g/mol
We will now have
Molar mass of KNO₃ = (39.10 + 14.01 + 48.00) g/mol = 101.11 g/mol
Thus,
Moles of KNO₃ = (77.8 g) / (101.11 g/mol)
The above expression will now give us: Moles of KNO₃ = 0.770 mol
Step 2: Calculate the molarity (M).
Molarity (M) = moles of solute / liters of solution
Hence, Molarity (M) = 0.770 mol / 2.04 L
Our final answer will now become: Molarity (M) = 0.377 M

Therefore, the molarity of the aqueous KNO₃ solution is approximately 0.377 M.

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