Question

Joseph Priestly is frequently credited with the discovery of oxygen, and was reported to have produced molecular oxygen from the decomposition reaction of mercury(II) oxide, which is the reverse of the synthesis of HgO depicted in the following equation. 4 Hg(l) + 2 O2(g) LaTeX: \rightarrow → 4 HgO(s) Determine the value of LaTeX: \Delta ΔH°rxn for the synthesis, given that

Answer 1

Joseph Priestly is frequently credited with the discovery of oxygen, and was reported to have produced molecular oxygen from the decomposition reaction of mercury(II) oxide, which is the reverse of the synthesis of HgO depicted in the following equation.
`4Hg(l)+2O_2(g)\rightarrow 4 HgO(s)`Determine the value of
`\Delta ΔH°rxn` for the synthesis, given that
`\Delta H_f^0` for HgO is -90.7 kJ/mol.

Answer: The enthalpy change for this reaction is, -362.8 kJ

Step-by-step explanation:

The balanced chemical reaction is,

`4Hg(l)+2O_2(g)\rightarrow 4HgO(s)`

The expression for enthalpy change is,

`\Delta H=\sum [n* \Delta H_f(product)]-\sum [n* \Delta H_f(reactant)]`

`\Delta H=[(n_(HgO)* \Delta H_(HgO))]-[(n_(O_2)* \Delta H_(O_2))+(n_(Hg)* \Delta H_(Hg))]`

where,

n = number of moles

`\Delta H_(O_2)=0` (as heat of formation of substances in their standard state is zero

`\Delta H_(Hg)=0` (as heat of formation of substances in their standard state is zero

Now put all the given values in this expression, we get

`\Delta H=[(4* -90.7)]-[(2* 0)+(4* 0)]`

`\Delta H=-362.8kJ`

Therefore, the enthalpy change for this reaction is, -362.8 kJ