Question

Design a synthesis that will produce 50.0g of Cu(s) from 2.50L of a 1.00M aqueous solution of copper (II) nitrate and another metal.

Write a balanced molecular equation for your synthesis including phase labels. How many grams of your other metal should you use?

Answer 1

Zinc can be used as the other metal. The mass required is 51.45 g.

Explanation:

Copper (II) nitrate can react with zinc to produce copper. The reduction potential of Cu2+ is higher than Zn2+ and hence Zn will get oxidised to react with cupper nitrate and copper will reduce to metallic copper as shown in the following reaction.

The atomic weight of Cu is 63.546 g/mol. Hence the number of moles in 50 g of Cu is = 50/63.546 = 0.787 moles.

Since atomic weight of Zn is 65.38 g/mol, hence weight of required 0.787 moles of Zn = 0.787 × 65.38 = 51.454 g.

So we need a solution with 51.454 g of Zn dissolved in it to produce 50 g of Cu from copper nitrate.