Percentages in Chemistry - Practice Quiz

Apply Your Percentage Skills!

Section A Basic Percentage Calculations

Problem 1

A quarter from 1964 is made of 90% silver and has a mass of 5.670 g. What is the mass of silver in the quarter?

Problem 2

A sample of brass contains 65% copper. If the brass sample has a mass of 250.0 g, how many grams of copper does it contain?

Problem 3

Pure gold is 24 karat. If you have an 18-karat gold ring (75% gold) with a mass of 8.50 g, what is the mass of pure gold in the ring?

Problem 4

A 500.0 mL sample of seawater contains 3.5% dissolved salts by mass. If the density of seawater is 1.025 g/mL, what mass of salt is present?

Section B Atmospheric & Gas Composition

Problem 5

The atmosphere is 20.95% oxygen. If you breathe in 0.5 L of air, what volume of oxygen did you breathe?

Problem 6

Earth's atmosphere is 78.08% nitrogen by volume. A room contains 450 m³ of air. What volume of nitrogen is in the room?

Problem 7

Carbon dioxide makes up 0.04% of the atmosphere. If you breathe 12 L of air, how many liters of CO₂ did you inhale?

Problem 8

A helium-oxygen mixture used in deep-sea diving contains 96% helium and 4% oxygen. If a diver's tank holds 3.5 L of this mixture, how many liters of oxygen are in the tank?

Section C Atomic & Molecular Calculations

Problem 9

Your body contains about 16 kg of carbon, and 18% of that carbon is carbon-12. If you have \(3.0 \times 10^{27}\) carbon atoms total, how many are carbon-12?

Problem 10

A sample of chlorine gas contains 75.78% Cl-35 and 24.22% Cl-37. If the sample contains \(1.5 \times 10^{24}\) total chlorine atoms, how many Cl-35 atoms are present?

Problem 11

A bronze statue is made of 88% copper and 12% tin. If the statue contains \(2.5 \times 10^{26}\) total metal atoms, how many are copper atoms?

Problem 12

Natural boron consists of 19.9% B-10 and 80.1% B-11. A sample contains \(6.02 \times 10^{23}\) boron atoms (1 mole). How many B-11 atoms are in the sample?

Section D Multi-Step Value Problems

Problem 13

If silver is worth $31.02 per troy ounce, and there are 31.1 g in 1 troy ounce, what is the value of silver in all 1964 quarters ever minted (1,950,000,000 quarters)?

Hint: Each quarter has a mass of 5.670 g and is 90% silver.

Problem 14

A copper mine produces ore that is 0.75% copper by mass. If copper sells for $4.50 per pound and there are 453.6 g in 1 pound, what is the value of copper in 1000 kg of ore?

Problem 15

A sterling silver necklace is 92.5% silver and has a mass of 45.0 g. If silver is worth $0.85 per gram, what is the silver value of the necklace?

Section E Percent Composition Challenges

Problem 16

A compound is 40.0% carbon, 6.7% hydrogen, and 53.3% oxygen by mass. If you have 250.0 g of the compound, how many grams of each element are present?

Problem 17

Ammonia (NH₃) is 82.35% nitrogen by mass. How many grams of nitrogen are in 150.0 g of ammonia?

Problem 18

A fertilizer contains 15% nitrogen, 30% phosphorus, and 15% potassium (15-30-15 fertilizer). A bag contains 25.0 kg of fertilizer.

  • a. How many kg of nitrogen are in the bag?
  • b. How many kg of phosphorus are in the bag?
  • c. What percentage of the fertilizer is NOT N, P, or K?

Problem 19

A sample of air in Los Angeles contains 0.15% carbon monoxide by volume (a dangerously high level!). If you breathe 8.5 L of this air, what volume of toxic CO did you inhale?

Problem 20

The human body is approximately 65% oxygen by mass. If a person weighs 70.0 kg, what mass of oxygen is in their body? How does this compare to the 16 kg of carbon in a typical human body?