A manufacturer produces a three-component fertilizer blend that simultaneously…
CHEMISTRY · Multi-part · A Level · Chemistry · Amount of substance · Amount of substance
Problem
A manufacturer produces a three-component fertilizer blend that simultaneously delivers nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and sulfur to agricultural soils. The blend consists solely of the following named ionic compounds in the proportions shown by mass.
• Ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (45 %)
• Calcium sulfate (35 %)
• Potassium nitrate (20 %)
(All percentages are by mass of the pure, anhydrous compound.)
(a) Write the formula unit for each of the three named compounds.
(b) For each compound in part (a), show that the total positive charge equals the total negative charge within one formula unit.
(c) Calculate the simplest whole-number ratio of total cation species to total anion species that are delivered when 100.0 g of the fertilizer blend is applied. Show all work, including molar-mass calculations and any assumptions made.