Final answer:
To determine the moles of Ni needed to react with 4.72 moles of CO, we can use the stoichiometry of the reaction. The balanced equation for the reaction is 2Ni + 5CO -> 4Ni(CO)4. By setting up a proportion, we can calculate that 1.888 moles of Ni are needed.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine the moles of Ni needed to react with 4.72 moles of CO, we need to use the stoichiometry of the reaction. The balanced equation for the reaction is:
2Ni + 5CO -> 4Ni(CO)4
From the balanced equation, we can see that 2 moles of Ni react with 5 moles of CO to produce 4 moles of Ni(CO)4. Therefore, we can set up a proportion to calculate the moles of Ni:
(4.72 moles CO) / (5 moles CO) = (x moles Ni) / (2 moles Ni)
Solving this proportion, we find that x = 1.888 moles Ni.