Question

A balloon contains 0.02 L of NO gas and 0.01 L of O2 gas. What is the volume of the balloon under the same conditions of temperature and pressure after the end of the reaction?

a) 0.01 L
b) 0.02 L
c) 0.03 L
d) 0.05 L

Answer 1

After the reaction of NO and O2 gases in a balloon, following the stoichiometry of the balanced chemical equation, the total volume of the balloon remains 0.02 L as some NO is left unreacted.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question involves a chemical reaction between nitric oxide (NO) and oxygen (O2) gases within a balloon. To determine the total volume of the balloon after the reaction, we need to consider the balanced chemical equation for the reaction:

2NO(g) + O2(g) → 2NO2(g)

From the equation, 2 volumes of NO react with 1 volume of O2 to produce 2 volumes of NO2. The student's balloon contains 0.02 L of NO gas and 0.01 L of O2 gas. Following the stoichiometry of the reaction, all of the O2 and an equivalent amount of NO (0.01 L) would react, leaving 0.01 L of NO unreacted. So we have:

• 0.01 L of NO2 produced from the reaction
• 0.01 L of NO leftover (since only half reacts with the available O2)

Therefore, the total volume of the balloon after the reaction is 0.02 L (0.01 L NO2 + 0.01 L unreacted NO).

The correct answer is therefore (b) 0.02 L.