Chemistry Question

Question

There are two forms of gold chloride. What is the formula for the form of gold chloride that contains 65% gold and 35% chlorine? What would the formula be for the other form of gold?

Answer 1

If you assume you have 100 g of the compound, then you have 65 g gold (Au) and 35 g chlorine (Cl)

65 g Au x 1 mole/196.97 g = 0.32999 moles Au

35 g Cl x 1 mole/35.45 g = 0.9873 moles Cl

Dividing both by 0.32999, we obtain

1 mole Au

3 moles Cl

Formula of the compound = AuCl₃ = gold(III) chloride

The other form of gold chloride would be AuCl = gold(I) chloride