How many moles of iron are required to react completely with 10.1 L of oxygen gas according to the following reaction at 0°C and 1 atm?

Question

iron (s) + oxygen(g)iron(II) oxide (s)

Answer 1

Hi Julissa A.,

Poorly-written question! The oxygen is supplied at 0C, 1 atm. Not the reaction! So write your stoichiometrically balanced equation: 2Fe(s) + O2 = 2FeO

then figure how much oxygen you have as moles, using the Universal Gas Law. Crank through the equation stoichiometry, that gives you the moles of iron.

By the way, don't imagine that you will control the oxidation to only Fe(+2), unless you have an appropriate catalyst. Iron will normally oxidize to (+3) state, even leaving some iron unreacted! If you wanted to keep iron in a pure oxygen atmosphere, as long as you keep it cold and dry it will just sit there. Just sayin'

--Cheers, --Mr. d.