Question

If the combustion of fossil fuels adds about 5 x 1012 kg of carbon to the atmosphere as CO2 each year, how much oxygen is required to produce this amount of carbon dioxide?

Answer 1

Hello!

The general chemical reaction for the combustion of a fossil fuel is the following one:

C(s) + O₂(g) → CO₂(g)

Now, we use the following conversion factor to go from kilograms of CO₂ to kilograms of O₂, using the molar masses of each compound and the reaction coefficients:


`5*10^(12) kg CO_2* (1000g)/(1 kg)* (1 molCO_2)/(44,01 g CO_2)* (1 mol O_2)/(1 mol CO_2)* (32gO_2)/(1molO_2)* (1kg)/(1000g) \\ \\ = 3,64*10^(12)kgO_2`

So, for producing 5*10¹² kg of CO₂, 3,64*10¹² kg of O₂ are required.

Have a nice day!