C2H5OH(aq) + 3O2(g) ---> 2CO2(g) + 3H2O(l) If 735 g of water is produced in this reaction, what mass of ethanol was initially reacted?

Question

C2H5OH(aq) + 3O2(g) ---> 2CO2(g) + 3H2O(l)

 

If 735 g of water is produced in this reaction, what mass of ethanol was initially reacted?

Answer 1

Hello. This problem can be solved using three-step stoichiometry.

Step 1: convert grams of water to moles of water

Step 2: convert moles of water to moles of ethanol using coefficients from the balanced equation

Step 3: convert moles of ethanol to grams of ethanol

The problem can be set-up as shown below:

735g H₂O X (1 mol H₂O / 18.016g) X (1 mol C₂H₅OH / 3 mol H₂O) X (46.068g / 1 mol C₂H₅OH) = ____g of ethanol

Hopefully that helps...