When 3.0 g of carbon is burnt in 8.0 g of oxygen, 11.0 g of carbon dioxide is produced. what is the mass of carbon dioxide will be formed when 3.0 g of carbon is burnt in 50.0 g of oxygen? Which law of chemical combination will govern the answer?

1 Answer
Nov 23, 2016

A mass of #11.0*g# of carbon dioxide will again be produced.

Explanation:

When a #3.0*g# mass of carbon is burnt in an #8.0*g# mass of dioxygen, the carbon and the oxygen are stoichiometrically equivalent. Of course, the combustion reaction proceeds according to the following reaction:

#C(s) + O_2(g) rarr CO_2(g)#

When a #3.0*g# mass of carbon is burnt in an #50.0*g# mass of dioxygen, the oxygen is present in stoichiometric excess. The #42.0*g# excess of dioxygen is along for the ride.

The law of conservation of mass, #"garbage in equals garbage out"#, applies for both examples.

Most of the time, in coal-fired generators, and certainly in the internal combustion engine, carbon oxidation is incomplete, and #CO# gas and particulate carbon as soot, are products with #CO_2#.

Capisce?