Question

According to the manufacturer, a tablet of Alka Seltzer contains 1940 mg of sodium bicarbonate. From this mass and the balanced chemical equation, what mass of CO₂ should be formed (and lost when the flask is swirled)? Show your work

Answer 1

balanced chemical equation is

NaHCO3 (aq) + HCl (aq) ......................> NaCl (aq) + CO2 (g) + H2O (l)

one mole NaHCO3 produce one mole CO2.

1940 mg of sodium bicarbonate = 1.940 g of sodium bicarbonate = 1.940 g /  84.007 g/mole = 0.0231 mole.

thus

mole of CO2 produced = 0.0231 mole.

and

mass of CO₂ should be formed = mole * molar mass = 0.0231 mole * 44 g / mole = 1.02 g CO2.