Final answer:
To find the mass of fluorine in copper (II) fluoride, multiply the percentage of fluorine (37.42% converted to 0.3742 as a decimal) by the mass of copper (II) fluoride (59.5 g) to get 22.28 g of fluorine.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate the mass of fluorine in 59.5 g of copper (II) fluoride, given that fluorine represents 37.42% of the compound by mass, you first need to calculate how much fluorine is in the total mass. You would multiply the total mass of copper (II) fluoride by the percentage of fluorine (by mass) in decimal form.
Step 1: Convert percentage to decimal.
37.42% = 37.42 ÷ 100 = 0.3742
Step 2: Calculate mass of fluorine.
Mass of fluorine (F) = Total mass of copper (II) fluoride × Decimal percentage of fluorine
Mass of fluorine (F) = 59.5 g × 0.3742 = 22.28 g
Therefore, a 59.5 g sample of copper (II) fluoride contains approximately 22.28 g of fluorine.