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How Much Sodium in Sodium Chloride?
- The FDA recommends a person consume less than 2.4 g (2400 mg) of sodium per day.
- The mass of sodium that we eat is not the same as the mass of sodium chloride that we eat.
- How many grams of sodium chloride can we consume and still stay below the FDA recommendation for sodium?
- The chemical composition of sodium chloride is given in its formula, NaCl.
- There is one sodium ion to every chloride ion.
- Since the masses of sodium and chlorine are different, the relationship between the mass of sodium and the mass of sodium chloride is not clear from the chemical formula alone.
- We need to calculate the amount of a constituent element in a given amount of a compound.