During a lab, 1.62g of COCl2 · x H2O were heated. After heating, only 0.88g of COCl2 remained. Calculate the formula of the hydrate. Show your work.
You have to break down the cobalt chloride and water by finding the mass of each and using empirical formula.

Explanation:

Let the number of moles of water in the required formula be "y".

The final formula should be in the form of : CoCl2 yH2O

1.62 g is the weight of CoCl2 and water in the sample

After heating, the remaining mass represents  the mass the salt only

mass of water in sample = 1.62 - 0.88 = 0.74 g

From the periodic table:

molar mass of cobalt is 59 g

molar mass of chlorine is 35.5

molar mass of hydrogen is 1

molar mass of oxygen is 16

molar mass of formula = 59 + 2(35.5) + 18y = 130 + 18y g

Now we have calculate the mass/molar mass for each part of the formula (salt and water) and equate them to get number of moles of water as follows:

0.88 / 130 = 0.74 / y18

y = 6.07 which is approximately 6 moles

Thus, the final formula is CoCl2 6H2O. This hydrate is called cobalt(II)chloride hexahydrate.

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