Question 5.sp.15: Carbon monoxide (CO) is a poisonous gas that combines with h...
Carbon monoxide (CO) is a poisonous gas that combines with hemoglobin in the blood, thus reducing the amount of oxygen that can be delivered to tissues. Under certain conditions, CO is formed when ethane (C_{2}H_{6}) in natural gas is burned in the presence of oxygen. Using the balanced equation, how many moles of CO are produced from 3.5 mol of (C_{2}H_{6})?
2 C_{2}H_{6}(g) + 5 O_{2}(g) \xrightarrow{\Delta } 4 CO(g) +6H_{2}O(g)
[1] Identify the original quantity and the desired quantity.
\begin{matrix} \text{35 mol of }C_{2}H_{6} &\text{ ? mol of CO} \\ \text{original quantity} & \text{desired quantity}\end{matrix}
[2] Write out the conversion factors.
• Use the coefficients in the balanced equation to write mole–mole conversion factors for the two compounds, C_{2}H_{6} and CO. Choose the conversion factor that places the unwanted unit, moles of C_{2}H_{6} , in the denominator so that the units cancel.
\begin{matrix} \frac{\text{ 2 mol }C_{2}H_{6}}{\text{4 mol CO}} & or & \frac{\text{4 mol CO}}{\text{ 2 mol } C_{2}H_{6}} \longleftarrow \text{Choose this conversion factor to cancel mol } C_{2}H_{6} \end{matrix}
[3] Set up and solve the problem.
• Multiply the original quantity by the conversion factor to obtain the desired quantity.
