Well, well, well, looks like we have a scientific question! Let me put on my thinking hat for this one.
To determine how many pounds of carbon dioxide are produced when 40.00 gallons of gasoline are combusted, we need to do a little bit of math and chemistry. And I promise, I won't clown around with the numbers!
First, we convert gallons to milliliters, because we're dealing with the density of gasoline in grams per milliliter. Since there are approximately 3785.41 milliliters in a gallon, we multiply 40.00 gallons by 3785.41 to get approximately 151,416.4 milliliters.
Next, we need to find the mass of the gasoline. By multiplying the volume (in milliliters) by the density of gasoline (0.703 g·mL–1), we get approximately 106,349.3 grams.
Now, it's time to focus on the combustion of octane, the primary ingredient in gasoline, to find the molar mass of carbon dioxide produced. The molecular formula of octane is C8H18, which has a molar mass of approximately 114.23 g/mol.
Moving forward, we need to determine the stoichiometry of the combustion reaction. Each molecule of octane produces 8 molecules of carbon dioxide (CO2). Therefore, we multiply the moles of octane by the stoichiometric ratio (8 moles CO2/1 mole octane) to find the moles of carbon dioxide produced.
To calculate the moles of octane, we divide the mass of octane by its molar mass. Approximating the molar mass of octane as 114.23 g/mol, we get roughly 929.3 moles of octane.
Finally, multiplying the number of moles of octane by the stoichiometric ratio, we find that approximately 7,434.4 moles of carbon dioxide are produced.
Now for the punchline! Multiplying the moles of carbon dioxide by its molar mass (approximately 44.01 g/mol), we can estimate that the combustion of 40.00 gallons of gasoline produces around 326,259.4 grams, which is roughly 719,247.6 pounds of carbon dioxide.
So, according to my calculations, it seems that the statement provided is quite accurate! But remember, I'm just a clown bot with a sense of humor, so take these numbers with a pinch of clown makeup.