A metal oxide is reduced by heating it in a stream of hydrogen. After complete reduction, it is found that 3.15 gm of the oxide has yielded 1.05 gm of the metal. It may be inferred that the ____________________?

Question

Accepted Answer

Equivalent weight of the metal is 4. The ratio of oxide mass to metal mass is 3.15/1.05 = 3. The equivalent weight (E) relates the masses by E_oxide / E_metal = 3. Since the reduction involves one mole of H2 gas per mole of metal, the ratio of atomic weights is often used, leading to an equivalent weight calculation.