In 1897 the Swedish explorer Andree tried to reach the North Pole in a balloon. The balloon was filled with hydrogen gas. The hydrogen gas was prepared from iron splints and diluted sulfuric acid. The reaction is given below.

Question

Fe(s) + H2SO4(aq) FeSO4(aq) + H2(g)

The volume of the balloon was 4400 m3 and the loss of hydrogen gas during filling was estimated at 20.%. What mass of iron splints and 87% (by mass) H2SO4 were needed to ensure the complete filling of the balloon? Assume a temperature of 0°C, a pressure of 1.0 atm during filling, and 100% yield.

Answer 1

Mel
I answered this for you yesterday. Look on page 3, Thursday, November 15 at time 7:12.

Answer 2

the answer i got was .15713mol for H2. i used that same number for the mol of Fe and H2SO4. since the equation is a 1 to 1 mol ratio.

i got 8.775g of Fe and the answer needs to be in kg. so it should turn out to .008775kg. however i was told that is wrong. where did i go wrong?

Answer 3

I don't think you converted 4400 cubic meters to liters. I've tried to figure how you got that number and I can't come up with it. But I'm getting something close to 1.37 x 10^4 kg Fe required.

Answer 4

so how do i now figure out the H2SO4? am i still using the same number of moles as the Fe?

Answer 5

Did that number of 1.37 x 10^4 kg check out? If so, post your work to the problem so we can find the error. Then we'll worry about the H2SO4 part.