During the reaction P4 + 5O2 → P4O10, 1.5 moles of product were made in seconds. What is the rate of reaction?

a) 0.011 g/min
b) 210 g/min
c) 380 g/min
d) 850 g/min

Question

During the reaction P4 + 5O2 → P4O10, 1.5 moles of product were made in seconds. What is the rate of reaction?

a) 0.011 g/min
b) 210 g/min
c) 380 g/min
d) 850 g/min

anonymous · Answer

whoever answers gets a medal

anonymous · Answer

We have the formation of 1.5moles (a quantity) over a unit of time, seconds. In 1 minute, assuming the rate is constant, we have 2*1.5moles=3moles. So now what we need to do is convert from 3 moles to the weight of 3 moles of P4O10.

We first look at the Periodic Table to find the Molar Mass of each element:
P: 31 grams/mole (since we have 4 moles, we multiply 31*4)=124 grams
O: 16 grams/mole (since we have 10 moles, multiply by 10)=160 grams
Total: 284 grams/mole of our product
Since we have 3 moles/minute, we must convert the 3 moles to grams. We therefore do:

3moles * (284grams/mole)= 852g/min
I assumed that the rate was constant, but that may not be the case so make sure it says "zero order reaction".