Question

If 2.30 moles of H₂ and 1.55 moles of O₂ react how many moles of H₂O can be produced in the reaction below?

2 H2(g) + O2(g) → 2 H₂O(g)____

Answer 1

Using the stoichiometric relationships from the balanced chemical equation, we determine that 1.55 moles of oxygen will react with excess hydrogen to form 3.10 moles of water.

Step-by-step explanation:

When determining how many moles of water (H2O) can be produced from a given amount of hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2), we apply the principles of stoichiometry. The balanced equation for the reaction is:

2 H2 + O2 → 2 H2O

This implies that 2 moles of hydrogen gas react with 1 mole of oxygen gas to produce 2 moles of water vapor. Given that there are 2.30 moles of H2 and 1.55 moles of O2, we first identify the limiting reactant since it will determine the maximum amount of product formed. In this case, oxygen is the limiting reactant, as it will be completely used up before hydrogen.

From the balanced equation, we see each mole of oxygen reacts with two moles of hydrogen to produce two moles of water. Therefore, 1.55 moles of O2 will react with twice as much hydrogen (which we have in excess) to produce 2 × 1.55 = 3.10 moles of H2O.