Percent Composition of

Mixtures and Compounds

 What is a Percent?
• A part of a whole
• A fraction x 100
• How many parts out of 100
The “Percent Formula”
 Percent Composition of Mixtures
(by mass)
The “whole” will be the mass of the whole
entire mixture.

The “part” will be the mass of the part of the

mixture you are interested in.

 The “percent” will express the part out of

100 equal parts. All percents must add to
100!
Example: Percent Composition of
a Mixture (by mass)
Whole = ?
Julia makes a Chex Mix 150. g + 220. g + 125 g = 495 g
with 150. grams of
pretzels, 220. grams of % Pretzels =
peanuts, and 125
(150. g / 495 g) * 100 = 30.3%
grams of cereal. What
is the percent
% Peanuts =
composition of her
Chex Mix? (220. g / 495 g) * 100 = 44.4%

% Cereal =
(125. g / 495 g) * 100 = 25.3%
 Percent Composition of a
Compound (by mass)
• A compound is a “chemical” mixture since
a chemical reaction between elements
forms a compound (although the elements
cannot be separated physically anymore).

Ex: 2Na (s) + Cl2 (g) → 2NaCl (s)

 Percent Composition of
Compounds (by mass)
 The “whole” will be the mass of the whole
compound (which you can get from the Law of
Conservation of Mass)

 The “part” will be the mass of the part of the

compound you are interested in (which element)

 The “percent” will express the part out of 100

equal parts. All percents must add to 100!
Example: Percent Composition of
a Compound (by mass)
63.98 grams of
Whole = ?
sodium (Na) metal
reacts completely 63.98 g + 70.90 g = 134.88 g
with 70.90 grams of (by the Law of Conservation of Mass)
chlorine gas (Cl2) to
produce pure sodium % Sodium =
chloride (table salt).
(63.98 g/ 134.88 g) * 100 = 47.43 %
What is the percent
composition of table
salt (by mass)? % Chlorine =
(70.90 g / 134.88 g) * 100 = 52.57%
Ex: 2Na (s) + Cl2 (g) → 2NaCl (s)