Question

Most mixtures of hydrogen gas with oxygen gas are explosive. However, a mixture that contains less than 3.0 % O₂ is not. If enough O₂ is added to a cylinder of H₂ at 33.2 atm to bring the total pressure to 34.5 atm, is the mixture explosive?

a) Yes
b) No

Answer 1

A mixture that contains less than 3.0% O₂ is not explosive. The percentage of O₂ in the final mixture is 3.77%, which is greater than 3.0%. Therefore, the mixture is explosive.

Step-by-step explanation:

According to the given information, a mixture that contains less than 3.0% O₂ is not explosive.

Therefore, we need to determine the percentage of O₂ in the final mixture. Initially, the cylinder contains only H₂ at a pressure of 33.2 atm.

When enough O₂ is added to bring the total pressure to 34.5 atm, the increase in pressure is the pressure of the added O₂. So, we can calculate the percentage of O₂ using the following equation:

Percentage of O₂ = (Partial pressure of O₂ / Total pressure) x 100%

Let's plug in the values:

Partial pressure of O₂ = Total pressure - Initial pressure of H₂

Partial pressure of O₂ = 34.5 atm - 33.2 atm

Partial pressure of O₂ = 1.3 atm

Percentage of O₂ = (1.3 atm / 34.5 atm) x 100%

Percentage of O₂ = 3.77%

Since the percentage of O₂ in the final mixture is greater than 3.0%, the mixture is considered explosive.