Question

The gas tank of a 2015 Nissan Sentra holds 13.2 gallons. How many pounds of carbon dioxide are produced by burning an entire tank of gas?

Express your answer rounded to the nearest tenth of a pound.

Answer 1

About 19.6 pounds of CO2 are produced from burning a (US) gallon of gasoline.
Source: www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=307&t=11
So the mass of CO2 produced by burning 1 tank of gasoline is
19.6*13.2=258.7 pounds.

Answer 2

0.2 lb

Explanation:

The gas used for fuel is mostly methane (CH₄), with a density of about 0.808 g/L. The combustion reaction is:

CH₄ + 2 O₂ → CO₂ + 2 H₂O

We can establish the following relations:

• 1 gal = 3.78 L

• 1L of CH₄ has a mass of 0.808 g.

• The molar mass of CH₄ is 16.04 g/mol.

• The molar ratio of CH₄ to CO₂ is 1:1

• The molar mass of CO₂ is 44.01 g/mol

• 1 lb = 453.59 g

The mass of CO₂ released when 13.2 gallons of CH₄ burn is:

`13.2galCH_(4)(3.78LCH_(4))/(1galCH_(4)) .(0.808gCH_(4))/(1LCH_(4)).(1molCH_(4))/(16.04gCH_(4)) .(1molCO_(2))/(1molCH_(4)) .(44.01gCO_(2))/(1molCO_(2)) .(1lbCO_(2))/(453.59gCO_(2)) =0.243lbCO_(2)\approx 0.2 lbCO_(2)`