Question

How many moles of carbon monoxide are needed to react with 4.80 g of oxygen gas to produce carbon dioxide? 2CO + O2 --> 2CO2.

Answer 1

To determine the number of moles of carbon monoxide (CO) needed to react with 4.80 g of oxygen gas (O₂) to produce carbon dioxide (CO₂), we first need to find the moles of O₂.

1. **Calculate the moles of O₂**:
The molar mass of oxygen (O₂) is approximately 32.00 g/mol.

\[
\text{Moles of O}_2 = \frac{\text{mass of O}_2}{\text{molar mass of O}_2} = \frac{4.80 \, \text{g}}{32.00 \, \text{g/mol}} = 0.150 \, \text{mol}
\]

2. **Use the stoichiometry of the reaction**:
The balanced equation is:
\[
2 \, \text{CO} + \text{O}_2 \rightarrow 2 \, \text{CO}_2
\]

From the equation, we see that 1 mole of O₂ reacts with 2 moles of CO. Therefore, to find the moles of CO needed, we use the following ratio:
\[
\text{Moles of CO} = 2 \times \text{Moles of O}_2
\]

Substituting the number of moles of O₂ we calculated:
\[
\text{Moles of CO} = 2 \times 0.150 \, \text{mol} = 0.300 \, \text{mol}
\]

Therefore, **0.300 moles of carbon monoxide are needed** to react with 4.80 g of oxygen gas to produce carbon dioxide.