How much does the concentration of carbon-containing molecules increase if 1 mole of C8H18 in 1.0m2 of air is converted into CO2?

Question

From the discussion question from Module 5, recall the chemical equation for the combustion of gasoline (iso-octane, C₈H₁₈) is:

2C₈H₁₈ + 25O₂ ---> 16CO₂ + 18H₂O

This means that 2 moles of iso-octane combine with 25 moles of CO₂ to produce 16 moles of CO₂ and 18 moles of water. This is important for understanding the impact of fossil fuel use on the atmosphere because burning one mole of fuel adds a lot of CO₂. Thinking about this in terms of the stoichiometry, and change in concentration, suppose we had 1.0 mole of iso-octane dissolved in 1.0 m³ of atmosphere. That means the concentration of carbon-containing molecules would be 1 mole per cubic meter. However, ff we burned all that iso-octane and convert the C₈H₁₈ into CO₂ the concentration of carbon-containing molecules increases. 

How much does the concentration of carbon-containing molecules increase if 1.0 mole of C₈H₁₈ in 1.0 m³ of air is converted into CO₂ as shown in the chemical equation above?

Answer 1

1 mole of C₈H₁₈ produces 8 moles of CO₂ so the concentration of carbon-containing molecules will increase by 8 times