Final answer:
To find the mass of oxygen needed to completely burn 10.0 g of propane, calculate the moles of propane, apply the 1:5 mole ratio between propane and oxygen from the balanced equation, and then convert the moles of oxygen to mass.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks to determine the mass of oxygen required to completely burn 10.0 g of propane, C3H8. This is a stoichiometry problem from the realm of chemistry where the complete combustion of propane in oxygen forms carbon dioxide and water as the products, following the balanced reaction equation: C3H8 + 5O2 → 3CO2 + 4H2O.
To solve this, we'll first need to calculate the moles of propane using the molar mass of C3H8. The molar mass of C3H8 is approximately 44.09 g/mol. Next, we apply the mole ratio between propane and oxygen from the balanced equation, which is 1:5, to find the moles of oxygen needed. Then we convert the moles of oxygen into mass using the molar mass of oxygen, which is approximately 32.00 g/mol.