A shiny, gold-covered bar of metal weighing 57.3g has a volume of 4.7 cm3. I s the bar of metal pure gold?

Question

How would you know based on the information?

Also, Sulfur-48 has 48 protons and 16 electrons. How would you calculate the number of neutrons based on that?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Answer 1

To determine if the bar is pure gold, you must calculate its density and then compare it to the density of gold. Density is found by dividing mass by volume, or density = m/V. You've been given the mass, 57.3 g, and the volume, 4.7 cm^3, so you can find the density of the bar. The density of gold is 19.3 g/cm^3, so the bar is pure gold only if it, too, has a density of 19.3 g/cm^3.

Your information about sulfur-48 is incorrect. The -48 indicates that the atomic mass is 48, and atomic mass is the total number of protons and neutrons, or nucleons. An atom of sulfur has 16 protons and 16 electrons. If the total number of nucleons is 48, you'd have 48 - 16 = 32 neutrons. However, there is no such thing as sulfur-48, because the heaviest isotope of sulfur is sulfur-36.

Answer 2

No. A pure gold bar with a volume of 4.7 cm^3 would have a mass of 90.71 grams. The density of gold is 19.3 grams per cubic centimeter.

Sulfur 48 has 48 NUCLEONS, some of which are protons and some of which are neutrons. Neutral sulfer 48 has 16 electrons and, therefore, also 16 protons. So the number of neutrons is 48-16 = 32. Thirty-two.

(That's an awfully heavy isotope of sulfur, too. Is there really such a thing as sulfur 48?)

Answer 3

No, the bar is not pure gold. It has a density of only about 12, while gold has a density of about 19.

And that sulfur is not sulfur, real sulfur only has 16 protons.

Answer 4

You could figure the specific gravity of the bar & compare it to the S.G. of gold but Lead is close to gold & could be easily plated to make it look like gold. If it is a specific gravity/density question, there's your answer. The real world answer is another matter.

Someone else can address the neutron question.

;-)

Answer 5

Tiff baby, your question answers itself. "Gold-Covered"