Lithium hydroxide is used in the space program to remove carbon dioxide (from respiration) in spacecraft. Specifically, lithium hydroxide, LiOH, reacts with carbon dioxide, CO2, to form lithium carbonate, Li2CO3, and water.

2 LiOH + CO2 ® Li2CO3 + H2O

What mass of CO2 can be absorbed by 36 g of LiOH?

a. 14.3
b. 18
c. 33
d. 36

Please assist in solving.

3 answers

Convert 36 g LiOH to mols LiOH. #mols = grams/molar mass.

Convert mols of what you have (in this case LiOH) to mols of what you want (in this case CO2) using the coefficients in the balanced equation.

Convert mols CO2 to grams CO2. grams = # mols CO2 x molar mass CO2.

Post your work if you get stuck.
14.3
The chemical equation below shows the reaction between carbon dioxide (CO2) and lithium hydroxide (LiOH).

CO2 + 2LiOH mc011-1.jpg Li2CO3 + H2O

The molar mass CO2 is 44.01 g/mol. How many moles of LiOH are needed to react completely with 25.5 g of CO2?