A coal burning plant that burns 4 metric tons of coal containing 2% sulfur (S) requires 1 metric ton of wet limestone (calcium carbonate) to remove 90% of the sulfur. The process prevents most of the sulfur from being emitted as sulfur dioxide to the air by producing calcium sulfate.

2CaCO3 + 2SO2 + O2 -----> 2CaSO4 + 2CO2

How do I calculate the percentage of limestone converted to calcium sulfate?

Please Help

im wrong

7%

To calculate the percentage of limestone converted to calcium sulfate, you need to consider the stoichiometry of the reaction and the information provided.

First, we need to determine the number of moles of sulfur produced by burning 4 metric tons of coal, given that the coal contains 2% sulfur.

Step 1: Calculate the mass of sulfur in 4 metric tons of coal.
Mass of sulfur = Percent sulfur in coal × Mass of coal
Mass of sulfur = 2% × 4 metric tons = 0.08 metric tons

Step 2: Convert the mass of sulfur to moles.
Number of moles of sulfur = Mass of sulfur / Molar mass of sulfur
Molar mass of sulfur ≈ 32 g/mol
Number of moles of sulfur = 0.08 metric tons × (1000 kg / 1 metric ton) × (1 g / 1000 kg) × (1 mol / 32 g) = 2.5 moles

According to the balanced chemical equation (2CaCO3 + 2SO2 + O2 → 2CaSO4 + 2CO2), we can see that two moles of limestone (calcium carbonate) react with two moles of sulfur dioxide (SO2) to form two moles of calcium sulfate (CaSO4). Therefore, in the reaction, the mole ratio of limestone to calcium sulfate is 1:1.

Step 3: Calculate the number of moles of limestone consumed.
Number of moles of limestone = Number of moles of sulfur = 2.5 moles

Now, we can calculate the mass of limestone consumed.

Step 4: Convert the number of moles of limestone to mass.
Mass of limestone consumed = Number of moles of limestone × Molar mass of limestone
Molar mass of limestone ≈ 100 g/mol
Mass of limestone consumed = 2.5 moles × 100 g/mol = 250 grams

Finally, we can calculate the percentage of limestone converted to calcium sulfate.

Step 5: Calculate the percentage of limestone converted.
Percentage of limestone converted = (Mass of limestone consumed / Mass of limestone used) × 100%
Percentage of limestone converted = (250 grams / 1000 grams) × 100% = 25%

Therefore, the percentage of limestone converted to calcium sulfate is 25%.