Suppose CuS and O2 react to produce SO2, and a copper oxide which contains 88.82% copper by mass.
Complete the reaction equation by entering the coefficients of the reactants and products and also the empirical formula of the copper oxide product.

__CuS + __O2 - __SO2 + __ ___

Question

Suppose CuS and O2 react to produce SO2, and a copper oxide which contains 88.82% copper by mass. 
Complete the reaction equation by entering the coefficients of the reactants and products and also the empirical formula of the copper oxide product.

__CuS + __O2 -> __SO2 + __  ___

wolfe8 · Answer

So wel know the  copper is 88.82%, so the oxygen is...? Then, act as if those percentages are mass and find the number of moles.

anonymous · Answer

Oxygen would then be 11.18%, so..

wolfe8 · Answer

So assume those are the mass in gram. Find the number of moles of each.

anonymous · Answer

There'd be 1.398 moles of copper, and 0.69875 moles of oxygen :)

wolfe8 · Answer

Ok now, divide both by the smallest number of the two. So here it is 0.69875.

anonymous · Answer

Gotcha.

anonymous · Answer

I got about 2 for copper, and 1 for oxygen.

anonymous · Answer

So would Cu2O be the compound?

wolfe8 · Answer

Yes. And then you can balance the equation.

anonymous · Answer

Alright. I'll see if my hw program takes it :)

anonymous · Answer

So I got 4CuS + 5O2 -> 4SO2 + 2Cu2O

anonymous · Answer

Yep, that worked! Thanks a lot! :D

wolfe8 · Answer

Good job. You're welcome. Goodnight now. I think I'm going to bed.

anonymous · Answer

Good night! Thanks again! :)