Question

Aspartame, an artificial sweetener contains $ 9.52 $ weight per nitrogen. There are two nitrogen atoms per molecule. The molecular weight of aspartame is:
(A) 147
(B) 294
(C) 588
(D) 266

Answer 1

Hint: In order to solve this question, the molecular weight of nitrogen is required. Aspartame is an artificial, non-saccharide sweetener. The atomic weight of an atom is the sum of the number of protons and neutrons. The molecular weight of a molecule is the sum of the atomic weights of the constituent atoms. We shall find the weight of nitrogen per molecule and then let the molecular weight as x and use it to find the molecular weight of aspartame using the relation given.

Complete Step by step solution
Nitrogen is a chemical element with symbol N. Its atomic number is 7. The atomic weight of nitrogen is 14. As aspartame contains two atoms of nitrogen per molecule, the weight of two nitrogen atoms is 2 multiplied by 14 which is equal to 28.
100 g of aspartame contains $ 9.52 $ g of nitrogen. Let x be the molecular weight of aspartame. Hence x g of aspartame will contain 28 g of nitrogen. Thus, the molecular weight of aspartame is as follows,
Molecular weight of aspartame that is x = $ \dfrac{{100}}{{9.52}} \times 28 = 294 $
Therefore, the molecular weight of aspartame is 294.
Hence the correct answer is option B.

Note
Aspartame is two hundred times sweeter than sucrose. It is used as a sugar substitute in food and beverages. Aspartame was first made in 1965. At room temperature, aspartame is stable at pH $ 4.3 $ . Nitrogen is used in case hardening of steel. Nitrogen is one of the major components of the atmosphere. In the vacuum pump system, liquid nitrogen is extensively used.