I have two theories, which one's correct?My book says that steel is made up of 98% iron and 2% carbon.98% of iron's molar mass (55.85 g/mol) is 54.733.2% of carbon's molar mass (12.01 g/mol) is .2402.If you add them up that gives you that steel has a molar mass of 54.97 g/mol.However, steel's chemical formula is Fe(3)CThat would make it's molar mass 179.56 g/mol.( Because 3(55.85) + 12.01 = 179.56 )Which one is correct?
Steel is an alloy - a mixture not a compound; it doesn't have a chemical formula. Only elements and compounds have molecular weights, not mixtures that aren't composed of a uniform molecule, so neither answer is correct.
