chemistry talking

Question

Methane CH4  gas  and oxygen O2 gas react to form carbon dioxide CO2 gas and water H2O vapor. Suppose you have 13.0 mol of CH4 and 1.0 mol of O2 in a reactor.Calculate the largest amount of CO2 that could be produced. Round your answer to the nearest 0.1 mol

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Answer 1

Start with the balanced equation:

CH4 + 2O2 --> CO2 + 2H2O

When you have amounts for both reactants, you have to determine which one will be completely consumed first (the limiting reactant)...this is the value you will use to start all the calculations

An easy way to determine the limiting reactant is to calculate the amount of a product that would be produced if each reactant is used completely...the one that produces the smallest amount is limiting.

We can use the balanced equation and ratios for this:

1 mol CH4 / 1 mol CO2 = 13 mol CH4 / x mol CO2.....x = 13 mol CO2

2 mol O2 / 1 mol CO2 = 1 mol O2 / x mol CO2.... x = .5 mol CO2

O2 is the limiting reactant...meaning when 0.5 mol CO2 is produced, you will have used all of the O2 and the reaction will stop. So 0.5 mol CO2 is the largest amount that would be produced.