The three elements A, B and C form three compounds AB, AC and BC. AB contains 75% of A, AC contains 57.14% of C while BC contains 11.11% of B. Prove that these results are in accordance to law of reciprocal proportions.

The three elements A, B and C form three compounds AB, AC and BC. AB c

1.	The three elements A, B and C form three compounds AB, AC and BC. AB contains 75% of A, AC contains 57.14% of C while BC contains 11.11% of B. Prove that these results are in accordance to law of reciprocal proportions.
Answer» Solution :In compound AB, the percentage of A is 75%. This means that 75 g of A combine with 100 - 75 = 25 g of B. THEREFORE, the amount of B that will combine with a fixed amount of A, SAY 100 g, would be `=25/75 xx 100 = 33.33 g` In compound AC, the amount of C is 57.14%. This means that 100 - 57.14 = 42.86 g of A combine with 57.14 g of C. Therefore, the amount of C that will combine with 100 g of A would be: `=(57.14)/(42.96) xx 100 = 133.3 g` `therefore` The RATIO in the amounts of B and C that combine with 100 g of A is: `33.33 : 133.3`, i.e. 1:4 .......(I) In compound BC, the amount of B is 11.11%. This IMPLIES that in this compound, 11.11 g of B combine with 100 - 11.11 = 88.89 g of C. The ratio in these amounts is `11.11 : 88.99,` i.e. 1:8.............(ii) The two ratios (i) and (ii) are related to each other as: `1/4 : 1/8,` i.e. `2:1` which is a simple whole number ratio. Thus, the amounts of B and C in compounds AB and AC bear a simple whole number ratio with the ratio of their amounts in compound BC. Hence, the data are in accordance to the law of reciprocal proportions and prove this law.