To calculate the number of moles in a sample, you need to use the molar mass of the compound. In this case, we'll calculate the molar mass of sulfur dioxide (SO2) using the atomic masses provided:
Molar mass of sulfur (S) = 32 u Molar mass of oxygen (O) = 16 u
To determine the molar mass of sulfur dioxide, we add up the atomic masses of sulfur and two oxygen atoms:
Molar mass of SO2 = (1 * Molar mass of S) + (2 * Molar mass of O) = (1 * 32 u) + (2 * 16 u) = 32 u + 32 u = 64 u
Now that we have the molar mass of sulfur dioxide, we can calculate the number of moles using the given mass of the sample:
Mass of the sample = 0.53 kg
First, we need to convert the mass from kilograms to grams:
Mass of the sample = 0.53 kg * 1000 g/kg = 530 g
Next, we can use the molar mass to calculate the number of moles:
Number of moles = Mass of the sample / Molar mass of SO2 = 530 g / 64 g/mol ≈ 8.28125 mol
Therefore, there are approximately 8.28125 moles in a 0.53-kg sample of sulfur dioxide (SO2).