Answer :
To find the total mass of nicotine before a 39.1 g sample was removed, we solve the equation 3x - 5.75 = 39.1, which gives us the total mass as 14.95 g.
The student has provided information about the mass of a chemical sample that was taken from a container and its relationship to the total mass of nicotine. To determine the total mass of the chemical nicotine before the 39.1 g sample was removed, we set up the following equation based on the given data: Let x be the total mass of nicotine in the container. According to the problem, a sample that is 5 3/4 g less than three times the total mass was removed, leading to the equation 3x - 5.75 = 39.1. Solving this equation for x gives us the total mass of the nicotine before the sample was removed.
To solve for x, we add 5.75 to both sides of the equation to get 3x = 44.85 and then divide both sides by 3, resulting in x = 14.95 g. Therefore, the total mass of the nicotine in the container before the sample was removed was 14.95 g.
