A fertilizer manufacturing company produces different ionic fertilizers to improve soil fertility. Before packaging, the Quality Control (QC) Department checks whether the formula unit mass printed on each fertilizer bag is correct. Since these fertilizers are ionic compounds, the chemists calculate their formula unit masses by adding the atomic masses of all atoms present in one formula unit.
The fertilizers being tested are:
- Potassium nitrate \((KNO_{3})\) – Supplies potassium and nitrogen.
- Ammonium sulfate \(((NH_{4})_{2}SO_{4})\) – Supplies nitrogen and sulfur.
- Calcium nitrate \([Ca(NO_{3})_{2}]\) – Supplies calcium and nitrogen.
- Ammonium chloride \((NH_{4}Cl)\) – Supplies nitrogen.
The QC manager asks the trainees to verify the calculations before approving the labels.
Answer the given questions with the right answer.
1. Calculate the formula unit mass of potassium nitrate \((KNO_{3})\) -
2. Calculate the formula unit mass of calcium nitrate \([Ca(NO_{3})_{2}]\). -
3. Which fertilizer has the greatest formula unit mass? -
4. If one nitrate ion \((NO_{3}^{-})\) is removed from calcium nitrate to form the hypothetical compound \(CaNO_{3}\), by how much would the formula unit mass decrease? -