Question

Nitroglycerin is a dangerous powerful explosive that violently decomposes when it is shaken or dropped. The Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) founded the Nobel Prizes with a fortune he made by inventing dynamite, a mixture of nitroglycerin and inert ingredients that was safe to handle.

1. Write a balanced chemical equation, including physical state symbols, for the decomposition of liquid nitroglycerin ( C 3 H 5 NO 3 3 ) into gaseous dinitrogen, gaseous dioxygen, gaseous water and gaseous carbon dioxide.

2. Suppose 69.0 L of carbon dioxide gas are produced by this reaction, at a temperature of − 5.0 °C and pressure of exactly 1 atm . Calculate the mass of nitroglycerin that must have reacted. Be sure your answer has the correct number of significant digits.

Answer 1

1. 4C₃H₅(NO₃)₃ (l) → 12CO₂(g) + 10H₂O(g) + O₂(g) + 6N₂(g)

2. 238 g of C₃H₅(NO₃)₃ has been reacted.

Step-by-step explanation:

This is the chemical reaction:

4C₃H₅(NO₃)₃ (l) → 12CO₂(g) + 10H₂O(g) + O₂(g) + 6N₂(g)

For the second part, let's apply the Ideal Gases Law to find out the moles of CO₂ that were produced.

P . V = n . R . T

1 atm . 69L = n . 0.082 L.atm/mol.K . 268K

(1 atm . 69L) / (0.082 L.atm/mol.K . 268K) = n → 3.14 moles

In the equation, ratio between nitroglycerin and CO₂ is 12:4.

12 moles of CO₂ were produced by 4 moles of C₃H₅(NO₃)₃

Then, 3.14 moles of CO₂ would have been produced by (3.14 .4) / 12 = 1.04 moles of C₃H₅(NO₃)₃

Let's convert the moles to mass, to find out the mass of nitroglycerin that must have reacted (mol . molar mass)

1.04 mol . 227.08 g/mol = 238 g