Question

If 45.6 grams of water decompose at 301 Kelvin and 1.24 atmospheres, how many liters of oxygen gas can be produced? Show all of the work used to solve this problem. 2H2O (l) yields 2H2 (g) + O2 (g)

Answer 1

This reaction is called the electrolysis of water. The balanced reaction is:

2H2O = 2H2 + O2

We are given the amount of water for the electrolysis reaction. This will be the starting point of our calculation.

45.6 grams H2O (1 mol H2O / 18.02 g H2O) (1 mol O2 / 2 mol H2O) = 1.27 mol O2

V = nRT/P = 1.27 mol O2 (0.08206 atm L / mol K) (301 K) / 1.24 atm
V = 25.20 L O2