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Question

How many moles of oxygen are required for the complete reaction of 23.6 g of ethene to form carbon dioxide and water?

a. 2.52 mol

b. 1.68 mol

c. None of these

d. 3.37 mol

e. 0.421 mol

Answer 1

Hello, Anjela,

Thanks for suggesting an answer. It isn't quite what I'm concluding, however, so I'd like to share my thought on how one can answer thr question. It is asking for the moles of O₂ required to completely consume the ethene. We only need a balanced equation and the moles of ethene contained in 23.6 grams of the material.

Here's my balanced equation:

C₂H₄ + 3O₂ = 2CO₂ + 2H₂O

If this is correct, it means that we need 3 moles O₂ for every 1 mole of ethene. So if we can determine the moles of ethene, we would multiply that by 3 to find moles O₂ required.

Moles C₂H₄

Divide the mass by the molar mass of 28.0. 23.6/28.0 = 0.842 moles ethene

Moles oxygen: multiply moles ethene by 3, equals 2.52 moles O₂

I hope this helps,

Bob