Ammonium perchlorate NH4ClO4 is a powerful solid rocket fuel

Ammonium perchlorate NH4ClO4 is a powerful solid rocket fuel, used in the Space Shuttle boosters. It decomposes into nitrogen N2 gas, chlorine Cl2 gas, oxygen O2 gas and water vapor, releasing a great deal of energy. Calculate the moles of water produced by the reaction of 2.5mol of ammonium perchlorate. Be sure your answer has a unit symbol, if necessary, and round it to 2 significant digits.

Solution

The decomposition reaction is:

2 NH4ClO4 —> N2 + 4 H2O + Cl2 + 2 O2

From reaction,

moles of H2O produced = (4/2)*number of moles of NH4ClO4

= (4/2)*2.5 mol

= 5.0 mol

Answer: 5.0 mol