VCAA 2008 Exam 1, Short answers Question 2 bii
why do they multiply 35 with 100/25
why isn't it 35 x 25/100?
Thanks
Hmmm look, the way I look at it is if the concentration is 35mg/L, multiply that by 0.1L (100mL) to get 3.5mg of MnO4- in the 25mL! So the ratio is want/have ie. 1000mL (the whole initial solutions)/25mL (have) times the 3.5mg = 140mg present in total, which is the right answer. But that's just my way. If you want to work by the VCAA way (remember there's an endless way to do these things yet still get the same answer!)
How they did it is, they worked backwards via DILUTION FACTORS. Basically you calculate what the solution was made up to divided by what it was and times by the concentration you found to work backwards to the original concentration of the solution. Ie. 35(mg/L) is what the concentrations is X (100mL what is was made up to)/(25mL the original volume of the solution) therefore 35mg/L times 100/25 = 140mg/L is the original concentration, and we have 1L of this solution (oh how very neat VCAA....) therefore the amount in 1L is literally just the 140mg like I said before, as it's 140mg per litre, and we want to find how much is in 1L ie. multiply by 1

did that make sense?