2.

9 NOTES
Percent Composition
Composition of Materials
• Percent composition
• the mass of a material found in a compound

• % composition = mass of element in formula x 100

total mass of formula

 
• Used to describe how much material is present in a particular ore or item
• Post-1982 pennies with a mass of 2.500 g contain 2.4375 g zinc and 0.0625 g copper. What is
the percent composition of each element?

• Zinc:

• 
• 
• Copper:
• 
• 
• 
• A Roosevelt dime, the US 10-cent coin since 1946, has a mass of 2.268
g. It is composed of 8.33% nickel and 91.67% copper. Calculate the
mass of each metal present.
 Moles and Percent Composition
• When choosing which mineral to use to extract copper, you need to consider the percent composition.
• Some Copper-Containing Minerals Common Name Formula
Bornite Cu5FeS4
Chalcocite Cu2S
Chalcopyrite CuFeS2
Malachite Cu2CO3(OH)2

• What is the percentage of copper in chalcocite?

• Two factors to consider when choosing a mineral:
• how much of the mineral is in the ore
• how much of the metal is in the mineral
• Use the copper-containing minerals table to answer the following. You
may assume that each mineral is present at the same concentration in
an ore and that copper metal can be extracted from a given mass of
any ore at the same cost.
• Mass of Part/Mass of Whole Compound x 100
• Calculate the percent copper in chalcocite. Cu2S
•  79.8%
• 

•   
• Calculate the percent copper in bornite. Cu5FeS4
•  63%
• 

•  Calculate the percent copper in malachite. Cu2CO3(OH)2

• 57.5%
• Which of these minerals – chalcocite, bormite or malachite – could be
mined most profitably?