Explain law of reciprocal proportions.
Answers
Answer:
The law of reciprocal proportions was proposed by Jeremias Ritcher in 1792. It states that, "If two different elements combine separately with the same weight of a third element, the ratio of the masses in which they do so are either the same or a simple multiple of the mass ratio in which they combine."
law of reciprocal proportions states that, "If two different elements combine separately with a fixed mass of a third element, the ratio of the masses in which they do so are either the same as or a simple multiple of the ratio of the masses in which they combine with each other".
Although this law may seem complicated, it is fairly easy to understand with an example.
For example, 3 g of
C
react with 1 g of
H
to form methane.
Also, 8 g of
O
react with 1 g of
H
to form water.
The mass ratio of
C:O
=
3
:
8
.
In the same way, 12 g of
C
react with 32 g of
O
to form
CO
2
.
The mass ratio of
C:O = 12:32 = 3:8
.
The mass ratio in which
C
and
O
combine with each other is the same as the mass ratio in which they separately combine with a fixed mass of
H
.
Similarly, 12 g of
C
react with 16 g of
O
to form
CO
.
Here, the mass ratio of
C:O = 12:16 = 3:4
.
The mass ratio in which they separately react with a fixed mass of
H
is 3:8.
The ratio of the two ratios is
3
/
4
3
/
8
=
8
4
=
2
1
.
Here, the ratio in which
C
and
O
combine with each other is twice the ratio in which they separately combine with a fixed mass of
H
.