How many moles of Magnesium must react with excess Oxygen to produce 80g of Magnesium oxide?

This question looks at the reaction:
Magnesium + Oxygen goes to Magnesium Oxide
Mg + O --> MgO
The first step is to calculate the moles of MgO produced using the mass in the question and the relative formula mass of MgO.
The RFM of MgO can be found using a periodic table. The atomic mass of Mg is 24 and the atomic mass of Oxygen is 16. Therefore the RFM of MgO is 24+16=40.
Now we can find the moles of MgO using the formula: moles = mass / RFM
moles MgO = 80 / 40
moles MgO = 2
Looking back to the equation for the reaction:
Mg + O --> MgO
We can see that one unit of Mg goes to produce one unit of MgO.
Therefore to produce 2 moles of MgO, we must use 2 moles of Mg.

TC
Answered by Thomas C. Chemistry tutor

23783 Views

See similar Chemistry GCSE tutors

Related Chemistry GCSE answers

All answers ▸

Explain the type of bonding in sodium chloride.


what forces hold the ions together in an ionic compound?


What is an acid?


What's the difference between an atom and an ion?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2025 by IXL Learning