High School Chemistry : Measurements

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for High School Chemistry

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Example Questions

Example Question #61 : High School Chemistry

How many significant figures does 0.000500 have?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 4

\displaystyle 6

\displaystyle 1

\displaystyle 3

\displaystyle 7

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 3

Explanation:

When dealing with decimal numbers, zeros only count as long as there is a non-zero number somewhere before them. The first 4 zeros have no non-zero number before them, so they don't count as significant figures. The last 2 zeros have a 5 in front of them, so those zeros count as significant figures, and so does that 5; which gives us a total of 3 significant figures.

Example Question #62 : High School Chemistry

Which of the following numbers has 4 significant figures?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 2\cdot 10^3

\displaystyle 1340

\displaystyle 1001

\displaystyle 4\cdot 10^3

\displaystyle 8.11\cdot10^4

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 1001

Explanation:

For scientific notation, the exponent next to the ten has nothing to do with significant figures; it's the decimal number before it that determines the number of significant figures. Based on those decimal numbers, \displaystyle 2\cdot 10^3  and \displaystyle 4\cdot 10^3 each have one significant figure, and \displaystyle 8.11\cdot10^4 has three significant figures. When dealing with non-decimal numbers, zeros only count if they are in between two non-zero numbers. That means that 1,340 only has three significant figures, and 1,001 has 4 significant figures.

Example Question #21 : Using Significant Figures

Answer the following problem using the correct number of significant figures.

\displaystyle 130.5 \cdot 12 =?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 1566

\displaystyle 2000

\displaystyle 1600

\displaystyle 1570

\displaystyle 1560

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 1600

Explanation:

Whenever multiplying, the final answer will have the same number of significant figures as the number with the least least number of significant figures in the question. 130.5 has 4 significant figures and 12 has 2 significant figures, that means that our answer must have 2 significant figures. \displaystyle 130.5 \cdot 12 =1566, but that's 4 significant figures instead of 2. So we need to round this to 2 significant figures. Our answer to the correct number of significant figures is 1600.

Example Question #64 : Measurements

Answer the following using the correct number of significant figures.

\displaystyle 14.1 + 12 + 5.634 =?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 31.73

\displaystyle 31.7

\displaystyle 30

\displaystyle 32

\displaystyle 31.734

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 32

Explanation:

When adding numbers, the answer should use the the least number of decimal places of those in the question. 14.1 has one decimal place (one number behind the decimal), 12 has no decimal places, and 5.634 has 3 decimal places; this means that the answer must have no decimal places. \displaystyle 14.1 + 12 + 5.634 =31.734, this must be rounded to zero decimal places. Thus we round up to 32.

Example Question #63 : Measurements

You are doing an experiment and are measuring how the pressure changes of a gas in a container which you are changing the volume. You have the gas in a small cylinder that has mL markings. The pressure sensor has a high precision and can display pressures of \displaystyle \pm0.01\,kPa. You will be changing the volume by 1 mL for every data pair and recording the pressure. Your first data pair you write down is when you have a volume of \displaystyle 45.0\,mL which gives a pressure of \displaystyle 102.03\,kPa. If you write down \displaystyle 45.0\,mL for your volume, what is the appropriate number of significant figures to use for your first pressure measurement?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 100\,kPa

\displaystyle 102.0\,kPa

\displaystyle 102.03\,kPa

\displaystyle 102\,kPa

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 102\,kPa

Explanation:

Notice that the most precise you can get with your volume measurement is \displaystyle \pm0.1\,mL and your recorded value has 3 significant figures. You must take no more than 3 significant figures for your pressure measurement even if the device is more precise than this (which it is). Your recorded value must be

\displaystyle 102\,kPa

Example Question #1 : Calculating Error

Robert conducted an experiment in which he investigated how much water a paper towel could absorb. Initially, Robert found that one paper towel can absorb 12.8g of water. Later he found that his scale was not calibrated, so he had to repeat the experiment. After repeating the experiment with a new scale, Robert found that one paper towel can actually absorb 32.9g of water. What is the approximate percent error between the findings of the first and second experiments?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 20\%

\displaystyle 39\%

\displaystyle 157\%

\displaystyle 72\%

\displaystyle 61\%

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 61\%

Explanation:

The formula for percent error is: 

\displaystyle \frac{\left | \text{Accepted Value - Measured Value}\right |}{\text{Accepted Value}} \times100\%

In this case, the measured value is 12.8g and the accepted value is 32.9g.

\displaystyle \frac{\left | 32.9g-12.8g\right |}{32.9g}\times 100\%=61\%

Example Question #1 : Analytical Chemistry

A reaction between one mole of sodium and one mole of chloride should yield 42 grams of sodium chloride. In your experiment, the actual yield is 32.73 grams. Calculate the percent error of your experiment.

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 25.13\%\ \text{error}

\displaystyle 22.07\%\ \text{error}

\displaystyle 15.42\%\ \text{error}

\displaystyle 24.07\%\ \text{error}

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 22.07\%\ \text{error}

Explanation:

To find percent error we need to use the following equation:

\displaystyle \frac{\text{theoretical yield}-\text{actual yield}}{\text{theoretical yield}}*100\%

Plug in 42 for the theoretical yield and 32.73 for the actual yield and solve accordingly.

\displaystyle \frac{42g-32.73g}{42g}*100\%=22.07\%

Example Question #2 : Calculating Error

In the following reaction, eight moles of sodium hydroxide is broken down into four moles of sodium oxide and four moles of water. What is the percent error if your experiment yields 195 grams of sodium oxide?

\displaystyle 2NaOH\rightarrow Na_{2}O + H_{2}O

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 21.37\%\ \text{error}

\displaystyle 78.63\%\ \text{error}

\displaystyle 22.15\%\ \text{error}

\displaystyle 34.17\%\ \text{error}

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 21.37\%\ \text{error}

Explanation:

To find the percent error we need to use the following equation:

\displaystyle \frac{\text{theoretical yield}-\text{actual yield}}{\text{theoretical yield}}*100\%

But in order to do this, we first have to convert moles of sodium oxide into grams:

\displaystyle 4 mol\ Na_{2}O * \frac{62g}{1 mol}=248g\ NaO_2

This gives us a theoretical yield of 248g, which we plug in with our 195g actual yield.

\displaystyle \frac{248g-195g}{248g}*100\%=21.37\%\ \text{error}

Example Question #2 : Analytical Chemistry

If a given sample of silver and flourine ideally combine to form 0.6mol of AgF, what is the percent error if the actual yield is 43 grams?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 51.98\%\ \text{error}

\displaystyle 47.81\%\ \text{error}

\displaystyle 43.57\%\ \text{error}

\displaystyle 56.43\%\ \text{error}

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 43.57\%\ \text{error}

Explanation:

Our first step to complete this problem is to convert moles AgF into grams:

\displaystyle 0.6 mol\ AgF*\frac{127g}{1 mol}=76.2g\ AgF

This gives us a theoretical yield of 76.2 grams. We can find the percent error by plugging in 76.2g for our theoretical yield and 43g for the actual yield in the following equation:

\displaystyle \frac{\text{theoretical yield}-\text{actual yield}}{\text{theoretical yield}}*100\%

\displaystyle \frac{76.2g-43g}{76.2g}*100\%=43.57\%\ \text{error}

Example Question #3 : Precision, Accuracy, And Error

After conducting an experiment that involved the reaction of solutions of \displaystyle Na_2SO_4 and \displaystyle Ba(NO_3)_2, 6.8 grams of \displaystyle BaSO_4 was yielded. What is the percent error if the theoretical yield of \displaystyle BaSO_4 for this experiment is 7.8 grams?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 12.8\%

\displaystyle 13.2\%

\displaystyle 9.2\%

\displaystyle 14.7\%

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 12.8\%

Explanation:

Use the following formula to find the percent error:

\displaystyle \frac{|\text{accepted value-experimental value}|}{\text{accepted value}}\cdot100\%

For this experiment, our accepted value is the same as the theoretical value.

\displaystyle \text{Percent error}=\frac{|7.8-6.8|}{7.8}\cdot100\%

\displaystyle \textup{Percent error}=0.128\cdot100\%=12.8\%

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