Suppose an industrial quality-control chemist analyzes a sample from a copper processing plant in the following way. He adds powdered iron to a 150.mL copper(II) sulfate sample from the plant until no more copper will precipitate. He then washes, dries, and weighs the precipitate, and finds that it has a mass of
97.mg.

Calculate the original concentration of copper(II) sulfate in the sample.

Question

Suppose an industrial quality-control chemist analyzes a sample from a copper processing plant in the following way. He adds powdered iron to a 150.mL copper(II) sulfate sample from the plant until no more copper will precipitate. He then washes, dries, and weighs the precipitate, and finds that it has a mass of 
97.mg.

Calculate the original concentration of copper(II) sulfate in the sample.

westernburger · Answer

I've gotten the balanced equation:

Fe+CuSO4-->Cu+FeSO4

aaronq · Answer

A good way to approach these problems is to write that the information given and what is needed.

you're given the mass of Cu: 97 mg

volume of solution: 150 mL

What is asked for? concentration, which is usually molarity

$\sf  Molarity=\dfrac{moles~of~solute }{volume~of~solution~(in~L)}$

So we know the volume (given in the question) but we need the moles of CuSO4, can you find that? (Hint: use the equation and the moles of Cu metal.)