Question

2 liters of hydrocarbon gas (CxHy) require 6 liters of oxygen gas to be burned and produce 4 liters of carbon dioxide gas and water vapor. Write the equation and determine the chemical formula of the hydrocarbon gas.

With explanation please, thankyou (:

Answer 1

Welcome to OpenStudy. Well, from the info you have, you can get the number of moles of oxygen and carbon dioxide contained in the compound. Then you can use the ratio I believe.

Answer 2

Hmm, is it 2 C2H12 + 6 O2 --> 4CO2 + 12 H2O ?

Answer 3

Doesn't look right to me. At most, one C can have 4 bonds. I am debating this with @petiteme though. Here, try setting the equation as this: 2(CxHy) + 6O2 --> 4CO2 + aH2O using the volume ratio.

From this, we can tell that there should be 4 C's on the left side. So x must be 2. What else do you think?

Answer 4

a is because the question did not specify how much water vapor was produced. So I am kind of stuck there.

Answer 5

yes, there was no information of the volume of the water vapor ): , I got two equations (?)

C4H8 + 6 O2 --> 4 CO2 + 4 H2O

and

2 C2H16 + 6 O2 --> 4 CO2 +12 H2O

Answer 6

Oh, try balancing O from where I left off :) You should be able to figure this out now.

Answer 7

2 C2H4 + 6O2 --> 4CO2 + 4 H2O ?

P.S : sorry if I miscalculated again heheh :x

Answer 8

Looks right now :) Good job!

Answer 9

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Answer 10

Good job! :DDDDD Welcome to Open Study! ^_^

Answer 11

Yayyy!! Thank you so much you two :D , May I ask something, can I or cannot I use C4H8 + 6 O2 --> 4 CO2 + 4 H2O ? If not, why? Thank you ( I want to make sure I understand it)

Answer 12

Well, you are told it takes 2 liters of the gas. But now that I think about it, that working is for figuring out the compound formula. A balanced chemical equation must have the lowest scalar multiple. Here you see we can simplify it by dividing everything by 2. Give it a try.

Answer 13

Oh yeah, sorry, I forgot that part *embarassed* . Ok, done it :D Thank you! :D

Answer 14

Nope don't be embarrassed. :) You're welcome.