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Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
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Help with percent composition
Ok- I understand how to do percent composition except:
If you have CuSO4 . 5H2O, do you distribute the 5 to the H2 and get 10 H atoms and then distribute it to the O and get 5 O atoms?
Nicole S.student - Falls Church, Virginia
2005
Technically, the dot 5H2O means that you have 5 molecules of water mechanically attached (water of hydration) to the copper sulphate. For most calculations, you would consider it as water rather than atoms of H and O. You do consider it in the weight when you are trying to weigh out an amount of the hydrated material to get a given amount of the copper or the copper sulphate ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] or the sulphate.
James Watts- Navarre, Florida
2005
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