Question

Question: As an instructor is preparing for an experiment, he requires 225 g phosphoric acid. The only container readilyavailable is a 150-mL Erlenmeyer flask. Is it large enough to contain the acid, whose density is 1.83 g/mL?

Short answer

Yes, the flask is large enough to contain acid.

Step-by-step solution

Defining the density, mass and volume relationship

Density is the physical quantity, which is the ratio of mass to volume.

\(Density\,\, = \,\,\frac{{Mass}}{{Volume}}\)

The unit of density is kg/m³ or g/mL.

Mass can be obtained by the product of density and volume.

Volume can be obtained as the ratio of mass to density.

Calculating the volume of phosphoric acid required to fill the Erlenmeyer flask

The mass of phosphoric acid is 225 g.

The volume of the Erlenmeyer flask is 150 mL.

And the density of the acid is 1.83 g/mL.

We have to calculate the volume of phosphoric acid using the density ratio as follows:

Therefore, the volume of the acid is 122.95 mL and the volume of the flask is 150mL.

Difference = 150 mL - 122.95 mL

= 27.05 mL

Therefore, the flask is large enough to contain the acid with the density of 1.83 g/mL.