What is the theoretical percent composition of hydrogen in CH4?
Understand the Problem
The question is asking for the theoretical percent composition of hydrogen in the compound methane (CH4). To solve it, we need to calculate the mass of hydrogen relative to the total mass of the compound and express it as a percentage.
Answer
The percent composition of hydrogen in methane (CH$_4$) is $75.08\%$.
Answer for screen readers
The percent composition of hydrogen in methane (CH$_4$) is approximately $75.08%$.
Steps to Solve
- Determine the molar masses of the elements in methane
Find the molar masses of carbon and hydrogen.
Carbon (C) has a molar mass of approximately $12.01 , \text{g/mol}$.
Hydrogen (H) has a molar mass of approximately $1.008 , \text{g/mol}$.
- Calculate the total molar mass of methane (CH$_4$)
Methane consists of 1 carbon atom and 4 hydrogen atoms.
The formula for the total molar mass is:
$$ \text{Molar mass of CH}_4 = \text{(1 × molar mass of C)} + \text{(4 × molar mass of H)} $$
Substituting the values:
$$ \text{Molar mass of CH}_4 = (1 \times 12.01) + (4 \times 1.008) $$
- Calculate the mass of hydrogen in methane
To find the total mass of hydrogen in the compound, we multiply the number of hydrogen atoms by the molar mass of hydrogen:
$$ \text{Mass of H in CH}_4 = 4 \times 1.008 $$
- Calculate the percent composition of hydrogen in methane
Now we express the hydrogen's mass as a percentage of the total molar mass of methane:
$$ \text{Percent composition of H} = \left( \frac{\text{Mass of H}}{\text{Total molar mass of CH}_4} \right) \times 100 $$
- Complete the calculation
Substituting the values from previous steps into the percent composition formula to find the answer.
The percent composition of hydrogen in methane (CH$_4$) is approximately $75.08%$.
More Information
The percent composition tells us how much of the compound's mass comes from hydrogen. In the case of methane, hydrogen makes up a significant portion of its mass due to its four hydrogen atoms.
Tips
- Not calculating the total mass of methane correctly by forgetting to sum the contributions of all atoms.
- Miscalculating the molar mass of hydrogen or carbon.
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