All MCAT Physical Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #11 : Reaction Calculations And Limiting Reagent
Complete the reaction.
The reaction of a salt, like , with an acid, like , is a double-replacement reaction. The products are a salt of the original acid (), and a second acid formed from the original salt (). Remember to keep the equation balanced.
Example Question #51 : Stoichiometry And Analytical Chemistry
When sodium nitrate reacts with iron (III) bromide to produce iron (III) nitrate, what is the molar ratio of iron (III) nitrate to sodium bromide?
1:3
3:1
1:1
1:2
1:3
The first step is writing, and then balancing, the chemical equation for this reaction.
From this, we are able to see that for every one mole of iron (III) nitrate that is produced, three moles of sodium bromide are produced (a 1 to 3 ratio).
Example Question #21 : Reaction Calculations And Limiting Reagent
Consider the hydrolysis of acetyl chloride into acetic acid and hydrochloric acid:
If 1g of acetyl chloride is added to water, how much hydrochloric acid is produced?
The limiting reagent in this reaction is the acetyl chloride (because water is never the limiting reagent; there is always an excess of water). To solve this question, we need to convert the mass of acetyl chloride to moles. The molecular weight of acetyl chloride is:
The moles of acetyl chloride is:
The moles of hydrochloric acid produced is:
The molecular weight of is equal to . The mass of produced is:
Example Question #22 : Reaction Calculations And Limiting Reagent
1g of A is added to 1g of B and the following reaction occurs.
The total amount of products produced is 0.016mol. What is the identity of A and B and what is the limiting reagent?
Molecule A: sodium chloride
Molecule B: potassium iodide
Limiting reagent: sodium chloride
Molecule A: sodium chloride
Molecule B: potassium iodide
Limiting reagent: potassium iodide
Molecule A: sodium chloride
Molecule B: potassium bromide
Limiting reagent: potassium bromide
Molecule A: sodium chloride
Molecule B: potassium bromide
Limiting reagent: sodium chloride
Molecule A: sodium chloride
Molecule B: potassium bromide
Limiting reagent: potassium bromide
The question states that the total amount of products produced is . This means that each product has (because of 1:1 ratio). To solve this question, we need to check each answer choice to see which one matches the given information. Let’s start with the correct answer first.
Molecule A is sodium chloride and molecule B is potassium bromide. The molecular weight of sodium chloride is and the MW of potassium bromide is . The question states that we start with of each molecule; therefore, the number of moles of each molecule is
moles of molecule A =
moles of molecule B =
Since it has the lower amount of moles, molecule B is the limiting reagent. We can now calculate the moles of products produced.
moles of product C =
moles of product D =
The calculated amounts matches with the information given in the question; therefore, molecule A is sodium chloride, molecule B is potassium bromide, and the limiting reagent is potassium bromide.
If we follow this procedure for the other answer choices we will notice that the results don’t match with the given information.
Example Question #23 : Reaction Calculations And Limiting Reagent
A researcher runs an acid-base reaction using 3g of hydrochloric acid and 5g of cesium hydroxide. He wants to use the excess cesium hydroxide for another reaction. How much excess cesium hydroxide can he obtain after the completion of the reaction?
The first step is to determine the limiting reagent. To do this we need to first calculate the moles of reactants. The MW of hydrochloric acid is and MW of cesium hydroxide is . The moles of each reactant is
Next step is to write out the balanced chemical reaction
The ratio of reactants is 1:1; therefore, since has the smaller amount of moles it is the limiting reagent. This means that all of cesium hydroxide will be utilized in this reaction and the researcher won’t be able to salvage any cesium hydroxide. Note that there will be excess left after completion of reaction. of will react with of ; therefore, there will be a total of of excess .
Example Question #1 : Units And Unit Conversion
Which of the following equations is equal to Young's Modulus for a solid?
Young's Modulus is equal to the stress over strain on an object. The stress on an object refers to the pressure that is put on an object, and can be given the below equation.
The strain on an object refers to the amount an object is deformed in the direction of the force. It can be given the below equation, where is the change in length and is the original length.
Combining these two equations we can determine Young's Modulus.
Example Question #2 : Units And Unit Conversion
Which answer choice is the highest temperature?
To find the right answer, we need to know two formulas:
The simplest way to compare these choices will be to convert them all to Kelvin.
This makes our answer .
Example Question #3 : Units And Unit Conversion
The freezing point of water is and the boiling point of water is . What is the difference between the boiling point and melting point of water if a student measured the temperatures in Fahrenheit?
In this question, you will have to use the given equation twice; once for melting point and once for boiling point. Let’s first convert the melting point to Fahrenheit. The question states that the melting point of water is . Plugging this into the equation gives:
The melting point of water is . Similarly, we convert the boiling point of water to Fahrenheit:
The boiling point is . The difference between boiling point and melting point in Fahrenheit is:
Example Question #4 : Units And Unit Conversion
Which of the following is true regarding the definition of Kelvin?
It is defined so that the temperature at which water exists in all three phases (solid, liquid, and gas) is absolute zero
It is defined as the ratio of the melting point to the boiling point of water
It is defined so that the temperature at which water exists in all three phases (solid, liquid, and gas) is
It is defined as the ratio of the boiling point to the melting point of water
It is defined so that the temperature at which water exists in all three phases (solid, liquid, and gas) is
Kelvin is a temperature scale that is named after Lord Kelvin. Lord Kelvin, through his experiments, found that absolute zero occurs at a temperature of . Later, scientists defined Kelvin as the fraction of the temperature of water at its triple point (the point on a phase diagram at which water exists as a solid, a liquid, and a gas). This is because the temperature at the triple point of water, in Celsius, is . In Kelvin scale, the triple point of water occurs at .
Example Question #5 : Units And Unit Conversion
The melting point of iron is . In Celsius the melting point of iron is __________ and in Kelvin it is __________.
The question states that the melting point of iron is . We can use the given equation to convert this to Celsius.
This means that the melting point of iron is . At this point you can choose the right answer because there is only one answer option that has ; however, let’s solve for Kelvin. The second equation you need to know is the conversion from Celsius to Kelvin:
The melting point of iron in Kelvin is:
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