Question

2.8 x 10-4 kg of a gas occupies 0.224 dm’ at STP.
Calculate the molecular weight of the gas.
(Ans. 28.0)​

Answer 1

Answer:

The trick here is to realize that if you know the volume of a gas at STP, you can use the fact that

1

mole of any ideal gas occupies

22.7 L

under STP conditions to calculate how many moles of gas you have in your sample.

Under STP conditions:

1 mole of an ideal gas = 22.7 L

−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−

In your case, you know that your sample of gas occupies

2.28 L

under STP conditions, which are currently defined as a pressure of

100 kPa

and a temperature of

0

∘

C

.

This means that your sample will contain

2.28

L

⋅

molar volume of a gas at STP



1 mole gas

22.7

L

=

0.10044 moles gas

Now, the molar mass of the gas is the mass of exactly

1

mole of the gas. In your case, you know that you get

3.78 g

for every

0.10044

moles, which means that you have

1

mole

⋅

3.78 g

0.10044

moles

=

37.6 g

Since this is the mass of

1

mole of gas, you can say that the molar mass of the gas is

molar mass = 37.6 g mol -1