Question

A compound used in making nylon, contains 43.8% oxygen. There are four oxygen atoms per molecule. What is the approximate molecular weight of compound?
A. 36
B. 116
C. 292
D. 146

Answer 1

Hint: Nylon is the synthetic material which is polymer known as the polyamides. Nylon is a lustrous, elastic and a strong material. It does not tend to absorb water and get dry quickly and it is also damage resistant towards oil and other chemicals. There are different types of nylon such as Nylon 6,6, Nylon6, Nylon 1,6 and Nylon 5,10.

Complete answer:
Now to calculate the molecular weight of the compound let us assume that the weight of the compound be 100g.
So as it is given it the question that the compound is made up of 43.8% of oxygen that means in 100g of compound the amount of oxygen present is 43.8g. We also know that the compound contains 4 atoms of oxygen.
The atomic weight of oxygen is = 16g/mol.
The weight of 4 atoms of oxygen will be = $16 \times 4 = 64g$.

So we know that,
- 100g of compound contains = 43.8g of oxygen means
- 48.3g of oxygen contains = 100g of the compound so,
- 1g of oxygen will contain = $\dfrac{{100}}{{48}}g$ of the compound.
As we know the compound has 4 atoms of oxygen that is 64g of oxygen so
64g of oxygen contains = $\dfrac{{100}}{{48}} \times 64 = 146.1g$.
So the original molecular weight of the compound will have 4 atoms of oxygen that is 64 gram of oxygen so the molecular weight of the compound would be 146.1 which is approximate to 146g.

Hence the correct answer is option D.

Note: Nylon 1,6 is produced from the nitriles with the help of acid catalysis. The nylon 5,10 is produced from the sebacic and also with the help of pentamethylene diamine acid. The Nylon6 is formed by the ring opening polymerization. Nylon is used widely in clothing, plastic manufacturing, fishnet manufacturing and conveyor and seat belts manufacturing.