Proportions for chemistry problem.

Question

A manufacturing company wants to get rid of 500,000 kg of copper (II) sulfate, and 500,000 kg of copper (II) chloride. If I know that for every 7.86 grams of CuSO4 I can get 2 grams of pure copper, and for every 5.37 grams of CuCl2, I can get 2 grams of pure copper.. How much profit can I make off both copper salts if I purchase them at $0.10 per kg? Pure copper sells on the market at $3.68 per pound.

Answer 1

Wow, that's quite a question.  I think the answer is you can make $154,000.  Nice haul.  Here is how to go about this.

 

For copper sulfate:  5x10⁴ kg x 1x10³ g/kg x 2 g pure Cu/7.86 g CuSO₄ = 1.27x10⁷ g pure Cu

For copper chloride:  5x10⁴ kg x 1x10³ g/kg x 2 g pure Cu/5.37 g CuCl₂ = 1.86x10⁷ g pure Cu

 

Cost = $0.10/kg x 500,000 kg = $50,000 for each = total = $100,000 cost

Selling price: 

For CuSO4:  $1.27x10⁷ g x 1 lb/454 g x $3.68/lb = $1.03x10⁵ = $103,000

For CuCl2:  $1.86x10⁷ g x 1 lb/454 g x $3.68/lb = $1.51x10⁵ = $151,000

 

Total cost = $100,000

Total selling price = $103,000 + $151,000 = $254,000

Net profit = $254,000 - $100,000 = $154,000