How do you calculate the relative formula mass (M) of calcium carbonate? Relative atomic masses C = 12, O = 16, Ca = 40?

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How do you calculate the relative formula mass (M) of calcium carbonate? Relative atomic masses C = 12, O = 16, Ca = 40?

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Answer 1 · 2018-07-01T09:56:58

100

Explanation:

To calculate the relative formula mass of calcium carbonate, we first need to write out its formula. It's an ionic compound formed between calcium ion $(C a^{2+})$ $(Ca^"2+")$ and carbonate ion $(C O_{3}^{2-})$ $(CO_3^"2-")$ .

There are several ways to figure out the formula, one of the easier way is using the cross-over method. You may watch it here:
How to Write formula for Ionic Compound

After crossing over the number of the charges in $C a^{2+}$ $Ca^"2+"$ and carbonate ion $C O_{3}^{2-}$ $CO_3^"2-"$ , we'll get $C a_{2} {(C O_{3})}_{2}$ $Ca_2(CO_3)_2$ , which can be further simplified into $C a C O_{3}$ $CaCO_3$ .

To calculate the relative formula mass, we'll need to count the number of atoms that are present in $C a C O_{3}$ $CaCO_3$ .
How to Count Atoms

In $C a C O_{3}$ $CaCO_3$ , we have
1 Ca
1 C
3 O

And then, we multiply with its atomic mass and add them all up, like this,

Relative formula mass $C a C O_{3}$ $CaCO_3$ = (1 x 40) + (1 x 12) + (3 x 16) = 100

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How do you calculate the relative formula mass (M) of calcium carbonate? Relative atomic masses C = 12, O = 16, Ca = 40?

1 Answer

Explanation:

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