Question
Ammonia is made up of hydrogen and nitrogen atoms. The ratio of hydrogen to nitrogen atoms in ammonia is 3:1 . What fraction of the atoms in ammonia are nitrogen atoms?
Answer
4.6
(393 Votes)
Rhian
Master · Tutor for 5 years
Answer
1/4
Explanation
Ammonia is a compound whose chemical formula is NH3. This means that each molecule of ammonia contains one nitrogen atom (N) and three hydrogen atoms (H). Hence, in one molecule of ammonia, there is a total of 1 + 3 = 4 atoms. The question asks for the fraction of the atoms in ammonia that are nitrogen atoms. Since there's one nitrogen atom in each molecule of ammonia, and the total number of atoms is 4, the fraction of nitrogen atoms is 1 nitrogen atom divided by 4 total atoms, which simplifies to 1/4.Therefore, the fraction of the atoms in ammonia that are nitrogen atoms is 1/4.