Question

g When a 2.75g sample of liquid octane (C8H18) is burned in a bomb calorimeter, the temperature of the calorimeter rises from 22.0 °C to 41.5 °C. The heat capacity of the calorimeter, measured in a separate experiment, is 6.18 kJ/°C. Determine the ΔE for octane combustion in units of kJ/mol octane.

Answer 1

The correct answer is 5021.25 kJ/mol octane

Step-by-step explanation:

The heat absorbed by the calorimeter is given by:

heat absorbed = Ccal x ΔT

Given:

Ccal = 6.18 kJ/ºC (heat capacity of calorimeter)

ΔT= Final temperature - initial temperature = 41.5ºC-22.0ºC = 19.5ºC

We first calculate the heat absorbed:

heat absorbed = 6.18 kJ/ºC x 19.5ºC = 120.51 kJ

The change in internal energy (ΔE) is equal to the heat absorbed by the calorimeter. In order to determine ΔE in kJ/mol we have to divide the heat into the number of moles of octane (C₈H₁₈) burned in the calorimeter.

Molecular weight (C₈H₁₈) = (12 g/mol x 8) + (1 g/mol x 18) = 114 g/mol

Moles of C₈H₁₈= mass/molecular weight= (2.75 g)/(114 g/mol)= 0.024 moles

Finally, we calculate ΔE:

ΔE = heat absorbed/moles of octane = (120.51 kJ)/(0.024 mol octane) = 5021.25 kJ/mol octane