Question

Sulphuric acid is produced when sulphur dioxide reacts with oxygen and water in the of a catalyst according to the reaction: 2SO₂(g)+O₂(g)+2H₂O(l)→2H₂SO₄. If 5.6 mol of SO₂ reacts with 4.8 mol of O₂ and an excess of water, what is the maximum number of moles of H2SO4 that can be obtained?

A) 2.5
B) 2.6
C) 5.4
D) 5.6

Answer 1

In the production of sulfuric acid, given 5.6 moles of SO2 and 4.8 moles of O2, the maximum moles of H2SO4 produced based on O2 being the limiting reactant should be 9.6 moles. The provided options do not include this number, indicating a potential error in the question or options.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student is asking about the stoichiometry of the reaction between sulfur dioxide (SO2), oxygen (O2), and water (H2O) to produce sulfuric acid (H2SO4).

In the balanced chemical equation, 2 moles of SO2 react with 1 mole of O2 to produce 2 moles of H2SO4. Given 5.6 moles of SO2 and 4.8 moles of O2, it appears that SO2 is in excess since it requires only 2.4 moles of O2 to react with all the SO2. Therefore, O2 is the limiting reactant, and since 1 mole of O2 produces 2 moles of H2SO4, the maximum number of moles of H2SO4 that can be obtained is 4.8 moles of O2 times 2, which is 9.6 moles of H2SO4. Since this number is not available in the options provided, there seems to be an error either in the computation or the options listed. Based on the ratios in the equation, answer D) 5.6 would be incorrect. If this is a calculation mistake and the student meant to write half the moles of SO2 reacted, the maximum amount would be 5.6/2 = 2.8 moles, which is not present in the options either. In this case, to ensure the correctness of the final answer, it's recommended to review the question and the options provided.