Question

A sample of gas isolated from unrefined petroleum contains 90.0% CH₄, 8.9% C₂H₆, and 1.1% C₃H₈ at a total pressure of 307.2 kPa. What is the partial pressure of each component of this gas? (The percentages given indicate the percent of the total pressure that is due to each component.)

a) CH₄: 276.5 kPa, C₂H₆: 27.4 kPa, C₃H₈: 3.3 kPa
b) CH₄: 268.4 kPa, C₂H₆: 29.1 kPa, C₃H₈: 9.7 kPa
c) CH₄: 290.4 kPa, C₂H₆: 26.7 kPa, C₃H₈: 9.1 kPa
d) CH₄: 255.6 kPa, C₂H₆: 31.9 kPa, C₃H₈: 19.7 kPa

Answer 1

To find the partial pressures of the gases we multiply their percentage by the total pressure. The partial pressures are 276.5 kPa for CH4, 27.4 kPa for C2H6, and 3.3 kPa for C3H8.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student asked what the partial pressure of each component in a gas mixture would be, given that the sample contains 90.0% CH4, 8.9% C2H6, and 1.1% C3H8, at a total pressure of 307.2 kPa.

To calculate the partial pressures, we use the formula:

Partial Pressure of a Gas = % of Gas × Total Pressure

• For CH4: (90.0/100) × 307.2 kPa = 276.48 kPa
• For C2H6: (8.9/100) × 307.2 kPa = 27.34 kPa
• For C3H8: (1.1/100) × 307.2 kPa = 3.38 kPa

In summary, the partial pressures will be approximately 276.5 kPa for CH4, 27.4 kPa for C2H6, and 3.3 kPa for C3H8.

Note that rounding could make the final values slightly different, but they should be close to those calculations.