Question

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the gas that is mainly responsible for global warming (the greenhouse effect). The burning of fossil fuels is a major cause of the increased concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is also the end product of metabolism (see Sample Problem 3.4). Using glucose as an example of food, calculate the annual human production ofCO2ingrams, assuming that each person consumes 5.0×102g of glucose per day, that the world's population is 6.5 billion, and that there are 365 days in a year.

Answer 1

`1.7\cdot 10^(15) g`

Step-by-step explanation:

Glucose reacts with oxygen do produce carbon dioxide and water:

`C_6H_12O_6 (s) + 6 O_2 (g)\rightarrow 6 CO_2 (g) + 6 H_2O (l)`

Given a daily mass of glucose:

`m_1 = 5.0\cdot 10^2 g`

Find moles of glucose:

`n_1 = {5.0\cdot 10^2 g}{180.156 g/mol} = 2.775 mol`

From stoichiometry of this equation, moles of carbon dioxide can be found by multiplying this amount by 6:

`n_2 = 2.775 mol\cdot 6=16.65 mol`

Convert this into mass using the molar mass of carbon dioxide:

`m_2 = 16.65 mol\cdot 44.01 g/mol = 732.8 g`

This is the mass of carbon dioxide per person per day. Multiply by the population and by the number of days to get the total mass:

`732.8 (g)/(person\cdot day)\cdot 365 days\cdot 6.5\cdot 10^9 people = 1.7\cdot 10^(15) g`