Epsom salts, a strong laxative used in veterinary medicine,
is a ...

Question

Epsom salts, a strong laxative used in veterinary medicine,
is a hydrate, which means that a certain number of water
molecules are included in the solid structure. The formula
for Epsom salts can be written as MgSO4 # xH2O, where x
indicates the number of moles of H2O per mole of MgSO4.
When 5.061 g of this hydrate is heated to 250 C, all the water
of hydration is lost, leaving 2.472 g of MgSO4. What is
the value of x?

Accepted Answer

Hey everyone. Our question here wants us to determine the value of X. For nickel to chloride times X amount of water. 1st. We're going to want to determine the mall of each substance. Starting off with nickel to chloride. We started off with 1.024 g of nickel to chloride. And to convert this into moles, we're going to use our molar mass which is 129.60 g per one mole of nickel to chloride. And when we calculate this out, We're going to end up with a value of 7.90 times to the negative third mole of nickel to chloride. Next, we want to determine our mole of water and we can determine our grams of water by taking our original Number of 1.88g of our sample And subtracting our anhydrous salt which is 1.0 - four g. And this is going to get us to our grams of water, Converting this into moles. We're going to take the molar mass of water which is 18.02 g per one mole. And when we calculate this out, we end up with a value of 0.0475 mol of water. Now, in order to determine our X. X is going to be Our 0.0475 mole of water Divided by hours 7.90 Times 10 to the negative 3rd mole of nickel to chloride. And this is going to end up to a value of six. So I hope this made sense. And let us know if you have any questions.

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