Answer
55.9 g/mol
Explanation
Given:
The mass of the sample = 1.95 g
Moles of Cl in the sample = 0.03606 mol
What to find:
To determine the atomic mass of M.
Step-by-step solution:
Step 1: Determine the mass of Cl in the sample.
Since it was given that 0.03606 mol of Cl is found in the sample, then the mass of Cl in the 1.95 g of the sample will be:
[tex]\begin{gathered} Mass=Moles\times Molar\text{ }mass \\ \\ Molar\text{ }mass\text{ }of\text{ }Cl=35.453\text{ }g\text{/}mol \\ \\ Mass\text{ }of\text{ }Cl=0.03606\text{ }mol\times35.453\text{ }g\text{/}mol \\ \\ Mass\text{ }of\text{ }Cl=1.27844\text{ }mol \end{gathered}[/tex]Step 2: Determine the mass of metal M in the compound.
Mass of metal M = Mass of MCl₃ sample - Mass of Cl
Mass of metal M = 1.95 g - 1.27844 g
Mass of metal M = 0.67156 g
Step 3: Determine the mole of M.
From the formula of the compound, (MCl₃), the M to Cl molar ratio is 1 to 3. Therefore, moles M in the sample:
[tex]Moles\text{ }of\text{ }M=\frac{0.03606\text{ }mol}{3}=0.01202\text{ }mol[/tex]Step 3: Calculate the atomic mass of M.
The atomic mass of M can be calculated using the mass of M in step 2 and and the moles of M in step 3 above:
[tex]Atomic\text{ }mass=\frac{Mass\text{ }of\text{ }M}{Moles\text{ }of\text{ }M}=\frac{0.67156\text{ }g}{0.01202\text{ }mol}=55.9\text{ }g\text{/}mol[/tex]Hence, the atomic mass of M is 55.9 g/mol