Question

Pentane gas (C5H12) reacts with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water. How many moles of C5H12 must react to produce 3.70 moles of carbon dioxide?

a) 1.85 moles
b) 2.22 moles
c) 3.70 moles
d) 4.63 moles

Answer 1

To produce 3.70 moles of carbon dioxide, 0.74 moles of C5H12 are needed according to the stoichiometry of the balanced combustion equation. However, this answer is not among the provided options, indicating a possible discrepancy.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine how many moles of C5H12 must react to produce 3.70 moles of carbon dioxide, we need to look at the balanced chemical equation for the combustion of pentane.

The balanced equation is as follows:

C5H12 + 8 O2 → 5 CO2 + 6 H2O

According to the equation, 1 mole of pentane produces 5 moles of carbon dioxide. Therefore, to find the moles of pentane needed to produce 3.70 moles of carbon dioxide, we set up a proportion:

1 mol C5H12 / 5 mol CO2 = x mol C5H12 / 3.70 mol CO2

Solving for x gives us:

x = (3.70 mol CO2) * (1 mol C5H12 / 5 mol CO2)

x = 0.74 moles of C5H12

However, the options provided do not include 0.74 moles. There might have been a mistake in the calculation or the options given. Therefore, none of the options a) 1.85 moles, b) 2.22 moles, c) 3.70 moles, or d) 4.63 moles are correct according to the balanced equation provided.