Question

What is the mass percent of each element in sulfuric acid, $ {H_2}S{O_4} $ ? $ H = 1 $ .

Answer 1

Hint: The formula of a chemical can also be used to determine its percent content. The mass of each element in one mole of the compound is first calculated using the subscripts in the formula. This is multiplied by $ 100 $ percent and divided by the compound's molar mass.
 $ Mass{\text{ percent of element = }}\dfrac{{Mass{\text{ of element}}}}{{Mass{\text{ of compound}}}} \times 100 $ .

Complete Step By Step Answer:
As we know,
Atomic mass of
Atomic mass of $ S = 32 $
Atomic mass of $ O = 16 $
Molecular weight of $ {H_2}S{O_4} $ $ = 98 $
As we have the find the mass percent of each element in sulfuric acid, we can use the above formula
 $ Mass{\text{ percent of element = }}\dfrac{{Mass{\text{ of element}}}}{{Mass{\text{ of compound}}}} \times 100 $
Mass percent of $ H = \dfrac{2}{{98}} \times 100 = 2.04\% $
Mass percent of $ S = \dfrac{{32}}{{98}} \times 100 = 32.65\% $
Mass percent of $ O = \dfrac{{64}}{{98}} \times 100 = 65.3\% $
Hence, Mass percent of $ H $ is $ 2.04\% $ . Mass percent of $ S $ is $ 32.65\% $ . Mass percent of $ O $ is $ 65.3\% $ .

Additional Information:
Mattling acid or Oil of Vitriol are two other names for sulfuric acid. It is corrosive and has a strong acidic tendency. It works as an oxidising and dehydrating agent at greater concentrations. It's a clear, syrupy liquid with no odour and no colour. It is water soluble and when dissolved in water, it produces heat. It's a common ingredient in fertiliser production.

Note:
Mass is commonly represented in grams, but any unit of measure will serve as long as the component or solute mass and, thus, the total or solution mass are expressed in equivalent units. One technique to indicate the concentration of an element in a compound or a component in a mixture is to use the mass percentage. It is used to express how much of each element in a compound weighs in terms of mass.