Question

Manganese reacts with fluorine to form a fluoride. If \(1.873 \mathrm{~g}\) of manganese reacts with enough fluorine to form \(3.813 \mathrm{~g}\) of manganese fluoride, what is the simplest formula of the fluoride? Name the fluoride.

Short answer

Answer: The simplest formula of the fluoride is MnF₃, and its name is manganese(III) fluoride.

Step-by-step solution

Calculate the moles of manganese

To find the moles of manganese, we will use the formula: moles = mass / molar mass. The molar mass of manganese is 54.94 g/mol. Moles of manganese = \(\frac{1.873 \text{ g}}{54.94 \text{ g/mol}} = 0.0341 \text{ mol}\)

Calculate the mass of fluorine

To find the mass of fluorine in the manganese fluoride, we can subtract the mass of manganese from the mass of manganese fluoride. Mass of fluorine = mass of manganese fluoride - mass of manganese = \(3.813 \text{ g} - 1.873 \text{ g} = 1.940 \text{ g}\)

Calculate the moles of fluorine

To find the moles of fluorine, we will use the formula: moles = mass / molar mass. The molar mass of fluorine is 19.00 g/mol. Moles of fluorine = \(\frac{1.940 \text{ g}}{19.00 \text{ g/mol}} = 0.1021 \text{ mol}\)

Find the ratio of moles of manganese to moles of fluorine

To find the empirical formula of the fluoride, we will determine the ratio of moles of manganese to moles of fluorine. Ratio = \(\frac{\text{moles of manganese}}{\text{moles of fluorine}}\) = \(\frac{0.0341 \text{ mol}}{0.1021 \text{ mol}} = 0.333\) To get whole number ratios, we can round the ratio to the nearest whole number. In this case, it is approximately 1:3.

Write the simplest formula of the fluoride

Based on the mole ratio found, the simplest formula of the fluoride is MnF₃.

Name the fluoride

The fluoride we just derived has the formula MnF₃. This is called manganese(III) fluoride.