Gaseous methane CH4 reacts with gaseous oxygen gas O2 to pro

Gaseous methane (CH4 reacts with gaseous oxygen gas (O2) to produce gaseous carbon dioxide (CO2) and gaseous water (H2O). What is the theoretical yield of carbon dioxide formed from the reaction of 0.48 g of methane and 0.54 g of oxygen gas? Be sure your answer has the correct number of significant digits in it. 8

Solution

The balanced equation is

CH4 + 2O2 -------> CO2 + 2H2O

number of moles of CH4 = 0.48 g / 16.04 g/mol = 0.0299 mole

number of moles of O2 = 0.54 g / 32.0 g/mol = 0.0169 mole

from the balanced equation we can say that

1 mole of methane requires 2 mole of O2 so

0.0299 mole of methane will require

= 0.0299 mole of methane *(2 mole of O2 / 1 mole of methane)

= 0.0598 mole of O2

But we have 0.0169 mole of O2 which is in short so O2 is the limiting reactant

2 mole of O2 produces 1 mole of CO2 so

0.0169 mole of O2 will require

= 0.0169 mole of O2 *(1 mole of CO2 / 2 mole of O2)

= 0.00845 mole of CO2

mass of 1 mole of CO2 = 44.01 g

so the mass of 0.00845 mole of CO2 = 0.37 g

Therefore, the mass of CO2 produced would be 0.37 g