Final answer:
21 grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) was produced when 15 grams of methane reacted with 12 grams of oxygen to form 6 grams of water.
Step-by-step explanation:
Calculating the Amount of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Produced
To find out how much CO2 was created during the reaction, we will use the principle of conservation of mass which states that mass is neither created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction. Given that we started with 15 grams of methane (CH4), 12 grams of oxygen (O2), and ended up with 6 grams of water (H2O), we can assume the remaining mass turned into CO2.
First, calculate the total mass of the reactants (15 g CH4 + 12 g O2 = 27 g total reactants). Then, subtract the mass of the water produced from the total reactants to get the mass of CO2 formed (27 g total reactants - 6 g H2O = 21 g CO2).
So, 21 grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) was produced in the reaction.