how many moles of sodium hydroxide will it take to neutralize a carbonic acid solution that contains 40.0 grams of carbonic acid?

Question

Acids and bases

Answer 1

First, write the balanced equation for the reaction.

2 NaOH + H2CO3 ==> Na2CO3 + 2 H2O

 

molar mass H2CO3 = 62.03 g/mole

moles H2CO3 present = 40.0 g x 1 mol/62.03 g = 0.6448 moles H2CO3

moles NaOH needed = 0.6448 moles H2CO3 x 2 moles NaOH/1 mole H2CO3 = 1.2896 moles NaOH needed

So, the answer should be 1.30 moles NaOH needed (to 3 significant figures)