Questions: An analytical chemist measures the amount of Elements E₁ and E₂ in four samples of an unknown Substance X:
sample mass of E₁ mass of E₂
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1 7.5 g 25.4 g
2 5.9 g 20.1 g
3 4.3 g 14.6 g
4 5.6 g 19.3 g
It's known that X contains no elements other than E₁ and E₂.
Using this information, answer the questions in the table below.
Question Answer
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Is X a pure substance or a mixture? If you don't have enough information to decide, choose can't decide. pure substance mixture (can't decide)
If you said X is a pure substance, calculate the mass of element E₁ the analytical chemist would find in a new 10.0 g sample of X. Round your answer to 2 significant digits. □ g
Transcript text: An analytical chemist measures the amount of Elements $E_{1}$ and $E_{2}$ in four samples of an unknown Substance $X$ :
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|}
\hline sample & \begin{tabular}{c}
mass \\
of $E_{1}$
\end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{l}
mass \\
of $E_{2}$
\end{tabular} \\
\hline 1 & 7.5 g & 25.4 g \\
\hline 2 & 5.9 g & 20.1 g \\
\hline 3 & 4.3 g & 14.6 g \\
\hline 4 & 5.6 g & 19.3 g \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
It's known that $X$ contains no elements other than $E_{1}$ and $E_{2}$.
Using this information, answer the questions in the table below.
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|}
\hline \begin{tabular}{l}
Is $X$ a pure substance or a mixture? \\
If you don't have enough information to decide, choose can't decide.
\end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{l}
pure substance \\
mixture \\
(can't decide)
\end{tabular} \\
\hline \begin{tabular}{l}
If you said $X$ is a pure substance, calculate the mass of element $E_{1}$ the \\
analytical chemist would find in a new 10.0 g sample of $X$. \\
Round your answer to 2 significant digits.
\end{tabular} & $\square \mathrm{g}$ \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
Solution
Solution Steps
Step 1: Determine if $X$ is a pure substance or a mixture
To determine if $X$ is a pure substance or a mixture, we need to check if the ratio of the masses of $E_1$ to $E_2$ is constant across all samples.
The ratios are not exactly the same, but they are very close. This suggests that $X$ is likely a mixture, as a pure substance would have a constant ratio.
Step 2: Conclusion on the nature of $X$
Based on the calculated ratios, we conclude that $X$ is a mixture.