Question

What can be the maximum percentage of the available chlorine possible in a given bleaching powder sample?

Answer 1

The chemical formula of the bleaching powder contains three atoms, i.e., chlorine, oxygen, and calcium so, its formula is $Ca{{(OCl)}_{2}}$. To calculate the maximum percentage of the chlorine in the compound first calculate the total mass of the compound and then divide the mass of the chlorine in the compound by the total mass of the compound. For the percentage value, multiply the value by 100.

Complete step by step answer:
- Bleaching powder is the common name of the compound having formula $Ca{{(OCl)}_{2}}$ and its chemical name is calcium hypochlorite. So, the three elements present in bleaching powder are calcium, oxygen, and chlorine.
- To calculate the maximum percentage of the chlorine in the compound first calculate the total mass of the compound and then divide the mass of the chlorine in the compound by the total mass of the compound. We know the atomic mass of calcium is 40 g/mol, the atomic mass of oxygen is 16 g/mol, and the atomic mass of chlorine is 35.5 g/mol. The total mass of the compound will be:
$=40 + 2(16) + 2(35.5)$
$=40 + 32 + 71$
$=143$
So, the molecular mass is 143 g/mol, and the total mass of the chlorine in this compound is 71 g/mol.
Therefore, the composition of chlorine in this compound is:
$=\dfrac{71}{143}=0.4965$
For the percentage value, multiply the value by 100. We get:
$=0.4965\text{ x 100 = 49}\text{.65 }\\!\\!$
Therefore, the maximum percentage of the composition of chlorine in bleaching powder is 49.65%.

Note: We can also calculate the composition of oxygen as:
$=\dfrac{32}{143}=0.223$
So, its percentage is 22.3 %
The composition of calcium will be:
$=\dfrac{40}{143}=0.2797$
So, its percentage will be 27.97 %.