What is the percentage composition of a soap $(C_17H_35COONa)$ ?

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Answer 1 · 2016-02-20T08:58:34

We solve for individual elemental percentages:

The molecular mass of sodium stearate is $306.46$ $g*mol^-1$ .

$%C$ $=$ $(18xx12.011*g*mol^-1)/(306.46*g*mol^-1) xx 100%$ $=$ $??$

$%H$ $=$ $(35xx1.00794*g*mol^-1)/(306.46*g*mol^-1) xx 100%$ $=$ $??$

$%Na$ $=$ $(1xx22.99*g*mol^-1)/(306.46*g*mol^-1) xx 100%$ $=$ $??$

$%O$ $=$ $(2xx15.999*g*mol^-1)/(306.46*g*mol^-1) xx 100%$ $=$ $??$

Should the elemental percentages sum to 100%? Why?

What is the percentage composition of a soap (C_17H_35COONa)(C_17H_35COONa)?