Sample Exercise: Burning Carbon
If 30 g of pure carbon are burned (combined with oxygen) to form carbon dioxide, how many grams of oxygen will be consumed in this reaction? Carbon has an atomic mass of 12, and oxygen has an atomic mass of 16.

Question

[latex]m_{c} = 30 g[/latex]

[latex]m_{o} = ?[/latex]

Accepted Answer

The reaction can be described by the reaction equation:

[latex]C+O_{2}\Rightarrow CO_{2}[/latex]

where the notation [latex]O_{2}[/latex] indicates that two oxygen atoms are normally combined to make an oxygen molecule in oxygen gas.
The ratio of the mass of oxygen to that of carbon, [latex]R_{o/c}[/latex] is then:

[latex]R_{o/c}= \frac{2(16)}{12}[/latex]

[latex]R_{o/c}= \frac{32}{12}[/latex]

[latex]R_{o/c}= \frac{8}{3}[/latex]

So:

[latex]\frac{m_{o} }{m_{c} }= R_{o/c}[/latex]

[latex]m_{o}= (R_{o/c})(m_{c})[/latex]

[latex]m_{o}= ( \frac{8}{3})(30 g)[/latex]

[latex]m_{o}=80 g[/latex]

Question 18.1: Sample Exercise: Burning Carbon If 30 g of pure carbon are b...

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