Question

Butyl alcohol, C₄H₁₀O, is highly flammable. When the reaction for the combustion of butyl alcohol is properly balanced, what is the coefficient in front of O₂?

a) 4
b) 6
c) 8
d) 3
e) 5

Answer 1

The coefficient in front of O2 for the properly balanced combustion reaction of butyl alcohol (C4H10O) is 6.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the coefficient in front of O2 for the combustion of butyl alcohol (C4H10O), we first need to write the unbalanced chemical equation:

C4H10O + O2 → CO2 + H2O

Next, we balance the equation:

1. Balance the carbon (C) atoms: there are 4 carbon atoms in butyl alcohol, so we need 4 CO2.
2. Balance the hydrogen (H) atoms: there are 10 hydrogen atoms in butyl alcohol, so we need 5 H2O.
3. Now, the oxygen (O) atoms must be balanced. The total oxygen atoms on the product side from CO2 and H2O are 4(2) + 5(1) = 13. The butyl alcohol has 1 oxygen atom, so the O2 must provide the remaining 12 oxygen atoms. Since each O2 molecule has 2 oxygen atoms, we need 6 O2 molecules to provide 12 oxygen atoms.

Therefore, the balanced chemical equation is:

C4H10O + 6 O2 → 4 CO2 + 5 H2O

The coefficient in front of O2 is 6.