Reductant Ratios
Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

A very uniform grade of iron ore is known to be entirely formed
from a mixture of different oxides of iron (iron oxide FeO,
magnetite Fe$_3$O$_4$ and hematite Fe$_2$O$_3$), although their
ratios are not known.
$1$g of this mixture is fully reduced, leaving $0.748$g of pure
iron.
Must all three of the oxides indicated be present in the
mixture?
Is there a smallest or largest amount of each oxide
present?
What possibilities for the percentage composition of the
mixture by mass does the experiment indicate?
Can you create a yield of iron which would prove the absence of
at least one of the oxides of iron from the ore?
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