Chemistry questions

Question

Automobile catalytic converters use a platinum catalyst to reduce air pollution by changing emissions such as carbon monoxide, CO(g), into carbon dioxide, CO2(g). The uncatalyzed reaction is represented by the balanced equation below.2CO(g) O2(g) 2CO2(g) +heat. determine the mass of O2(g) required to completely react with 784g moles of CO(g) during this reaction.

Answer 1

Hello, Isabell,

The balanced equation tells us that two moles of CO will react with one mole of O₂. If we find the number of moles in 784g of CO, we can take 1/2 of that to find the moles of O₂ that are required. Find the molar masses (g/mole) of both CO and O₂ and set up a table to keep things clear.

The molar mass of CO is 28g/mole. Moles of CO is found by dividing the actual mass by the molar mass. That comes out to a surprisingly eerie 28 moles. But that's what it is, and it makes me suspect that we're on the right track, after checking my division.

If we have 28 moles of CO, we then know we need half that of O₂ to completely react, or 14 moles. To convert that to grams O₂, multiply by oxygen's molar mass of 32g/mole. That result is 448 grams O₂.

( Moles CO/Moles O₂) = 2, as per the balanced equation.

Bob