Nitrogen gas and hydrogen gas react to produce ammonia according to the following equation.

The atomic mass of nitrogen is . The atomic mass of hydrogen is . When the reaction
produces grams of ammonia, how many grams of nitrogen were present initially?
(1 point)
N2 + 3H2 → 2NH3 N2 + 3H2 → 2NH3
14 g/mol 14 g / mol 1 g/mol 1 g / mol
6868
1212
112112
5656
4

1 answer

To determine how many grams of nitrogen were present initially when producing a certain amount of ammonia, we can follow these steps:

  1. Write down the balanced chemical equation: \[ N_2 + 3H_2 \rightarrow 2NH_3 \]

  2. Determine the molar masses:

    • Molar mass of \(N_2\) (for nitrogen) = \(2 \times 14 , \text{g/mol} = 28 , \text{g/mol}\)
    • Molar mass of \(H_2\) (for hydrogen) = \(2 \times 1 , \text{g/mol} = 2 , \text{g/mol}\)
    • Molar mass of \(NH_3\) (for ammonia) = \(14 , \text{g/mol} + 3 \times 1 , \text{g/mol} = 17 , \text{g/mol}\)
  3. Examine the stoichiometry: According to the balanced equation:

    • 1 mole of \(N_2\) produces 2 moles of \(NH_3\).
    • 1 mole of \(N_2\) corresponds to \(28 , \text{g}\) of nitrogen and produces \(34 , \text{g}\) of \(NH_3\) (since \(2 \times 17 , \text{g/mol} = 34 , \text{g}\)).
  4. Calculate the mass of nitrogen based on the mass of ammonia produced: If \(x\) grams of ammonia is produced, we can set up a proportion based on the stoichiometric ratios: \[ \frac{28 , \text{g} , N_2}{34 , \text{g} , NH_3} = \frac{m , \text{g} , N_2}{x , \text{g} , NH_3} \] Rearranging this gives: \[ m = \frac{28 , \text{g}}{34 , \text{g}} \cdot x \]

  5. Calculate the amount of nitrogen for the specific amount of ammonia:

    • If \(x = 68 , \text{g}\) (assuming the amount of ammonia produced is given as 68 g), we can substitute \(x\): \[ m = \frac{28}{34} \cdot 68 \] \[ m = \frac{28 \times 68}{34} = 56 , \text{grams of } N_2 \]

Thus, if 68 grams of ammonia were produced, there were initially 56 grams of nitrogen present.