Methane, which is the chief component of natural gas, is used in its compressed or liquid form to power many fleet vehicles, such as garbage trucks and buses. How many liters of carbon dioxide will be produced during one day of operation of a bus that burns 16.0 kilograms of methane?

Can someone walk me through the steps of doing this? I don't just want an answer. I want to understand what I'm doing too.

Question

Methane, which is the chief component of natural gas, is used in its compressed or liquid form to power many fleet vehicles, such as garbage trucks and buses. How many liters of carbon dioxide will be produced during one day of operation of a bus that burns 16.0 kilograms of methane?

Can someone walk me through the steps of doing this? I don't just want an answer. I want to understand what I'm doing too.

istim · Answer

Do they want the chemical equation for a complete combustion? Because you can easily look that up online.

anonymous · Answer

I have no idea. This is the only thing that the question says so this is all I have to work with. I know its a Stoichiometry problem.

anonymous · Answer

So I know the first thing that you have to do is make a balanced chemical equation. Which in this case would be CH4 + 2O2 => CO2 + 2H2O

Then the second step you have to do is translate the given units into moles which is where I get stuck.

istim · Answer

Is 16.0 kg the only units?

istim · Answer

Well, use the periodic table of elements to determine the molecular mass of Carbon and Hydrogen. Then multiply the Mm for hydrogen to 4.

istim · Answer

I'm going to go, if that's fine by you.