Try it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
A yellow solid X has a molar mass of . Two students find its nitrogen by different methods. Their answers do not agree, and each student repeats the work and gets the same result again.
Student 1 uses Dumas' method. A sample gives of nitrogen, collected over potassium hydroxide solution at and a total pressure of . The aqueous tension at is .
Student 2 uses Kjeldahl's method. A sample is digested with concentrated sulphuric acid. The ammonia set free with alkali is passed into of sulphuric acid. The acid left over needs of sodium hydroxide.
Take STP as and , where of a gas occupies . N is .
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
Given. Dumas: , , , total pressure , aqueous tension . Kjeldahl: , acid of , alkali of .
Step 1. Dry nitrogen at STP. The gas is wet, so . From we want , so . Then .
Step 2. Dumas percentage. Mass of N . So .
Step 3. Kjeldahl ammonia. Acid taken: . Alkali used: , which neutralises of acid. The ammonia took of acid, so it was .
Step 4. Kjeldahl percentage. Mass of N . So .
Step 5. Atoms per molecule. One mole, , holds of N by Dumas: , so atoms. Kjeldahl finds only : , so atom.
Answer: (a) . (b) . (c) . (d) . (e) nitrogen atoms. (f) nitrogen atom.
Why the methods disagree. Dumas' method sets free all the nitrogen as . Kjeldahl's method does not work for nitrogen in nitro and azo groups, or in a ring as in pyridine, because that nitrogen does not change to ammonium sulphate. So one of the two nitrogen atoms of X sits in such a group. X could be a nitroaniline, , whose amino nitrogen is found and whose nitro nitrogen is missed.
Check. The ideal gas equation with gives of , which is of nitrogen, as in Step 2. NCERT's shortcut gives , as in Step 4.
Watch out. Using the total pressure in Dumas' method gives , which is too high.
Log in to join the discussion.
Loading…