When carbon is burned in air, it reacts with oxygen to form carbon dioxide. When 14.4 g of carbon were burned in the presence of 55.2 g of oxygen, 16.8 g of oxygen remained unreacted. What mass of carbon dioxide was produced?

Your numbers don't add up.

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To solve this problem, we need to use the concept of balanced chemical equations and stoichiometry.

First, let's write the balanced equation for the combustion of carbon:

C + O2 → CO2

According to the equation, we need 1 molecule of carbon (C) and 1 molecule of oxygen (O2) to produce 1 molecule of carbon dioxide (CO2).

Next, we need to determine the limiting reactant. The limiting reactant is the reactant that is completely consumed in a reaction and determines the amount of product formed. In this case, we are given the masses of carbon and oxygen, but we need to compare them to find the limiting reactant.

Let's calculate the moles of carbon and oxygen using their molar masses:

Molar mass of carbon (C) = 12.01 g/mol
Molar mass of oxygen (O2) = 32.00 g/mol

moles of carbon = mass of carbon / molar mass of carbon
moles of carbon = 14.4 g / 12.01 g/mol ≈ 1.199 mol

moles of oxygen = mass of oxygen / molar mass of oxygen
moles of oxygen = 55.2 g / 32.00 g/mol ≈ 1.725 mol

Now, let's compare the mole ratios of carbon and oxygen from the balanced equation:

From the balanced equation: 1 mol of carbon requires 1 mol of oxygen

Let's check which reactant is the limiting reactant:

Carbon: 1.199 mol
Oxygen: 1.725 mol

Since oxygen is the limiting reactant because we have fewer moles of oxygen compared to carbon, we can calculate the amount of carbon dioxide produced based on the limiting reactant.

Now, let's calculate the moles of carbon dioxide produced using the mole ratio:

From the balanced equation: 1 mol of carbon dioxide is produced from 1 mol of oxygen

moles of carbon dioxide = moles of oxygen (limiting reactant) = 1.725 mol

Finally, let's calculate the mass of carbon dioxide produced using the mole ratio and molar mass:

mass of carbon dioxide = moles of carbon dioxide × molar mass of carbon dioxide
mass of carbon dioxide = 1.725 mol × (12.01 g/mol + 2 × 16.00 g/mol) ≈ 77.969 g

Therefore, approximately 77.969 grams of carbon dioxide were produced.