Question

Nitric acid is prepared commercially by the Ostwald process. In the first step of this process, ammonia gas is burned with oxygen in the presence of platinum to produce nitric oxide and water. The balanced chemical equation is given below. 4NH3 (l) + 5O2(g) 4NO (g) + 6H2O (l) If all the gases in this reaction are at STP, what will be the volume of NO formed during the combustion of 1000 liters of NH3?

Answer 1

The concept to be applied is Avagadro's law

The volume of a gas is directly related to the moles of the gas

or

at STP , one mole of a gas occupies 22.4 L of volume

the reaction of ammonia with oxygen is

4NH₃(g) + 5O₂(g) ---> 4NO(g) + 6H₂O(l)

as per equation four moles of ammonia will give four moles of NO

Or we can say that 22.4 X4 L of ammonia will give 22.4 X 4 L of NO

Hence

1000L of gas will give 1000L of NO gas