Epsom salts, a strong laxative used in veterinary medicine, is a hydrate, which means that a certain number of water molecules are included in the solid structure. The formula for Epsom salts can be written as MgSO4 · x H2O, where x indicates the number of moles of H2O per mole of MgSO4. When 3.484 g of this hydrate is heated to 250°C, all the water of hydration is lost, leaving 1.701 g of MgSO4. What is the value of x?

The values of x represents that number of moles of water molecules that is present per mole of the salt magnesium sulfate. To determine the value for this, we need to know how much is the water that is lost after heating the sample assuming that all of the water molecules are evaporated leaving only the unhydrated form of the salt. We calculate as follows:

Mass of hydrated salt = 3.484 g

Mass after heating = 1.701 g

Mass lost = 3.484 g - 1.701 g = 1.783 g

The mass lost is equal to the mass of water lost.

Moles water lost = 1.783 g (1 mol / 18.02 g) = 0.0989 mol H2O

Moles of unhydrated salt = 1.701 g (1 mol / 120.37 g) = 0.0141 mol MgSO4

moles water / moles MgSO4 = 0.0989 mol H2O / 0.0141 mol MgSO4 = 7

Therefore, the value of x is 7.