How many grams of CO2 are formed if 10.0 g of carbon are burned?

C + O2 ----------> CO2

a
38 grams
b
38.7 grams
c
36.7 grams
d
36.0 grams

1 answer

b) 38.7 grams

Explanation:

First, we need to write the balanced chemical equation for the combustion of carbon:

C + O2 -> CO2

This tells us that for every mole of carbon (12.01 grams), we need one mole of O2 (32.00 grams) to produce one mole of CO2 (44.01 grams).

Using this information, we can set up a proportion:

10.0 g C / 12.01 g mol^-1 C = x g CO2 / 44.01 g mol^-1 CO2

Solving for x:

x = (10.0 g C * 44.01 g mol^-1 CO2) / (12.01 g mol^-1 C)

x = 36.65 g CO2

Rounding to the nearest tenth gives us 38.7 grams of CO2 formed.