When carbon is burned in air, it reacts with oxygen to form carbon dioxide. When 20.4 g of carbon were burned in the presence of 71.1 g of oxygen, 16.7 g of oxygen remained unreacted. What mass of carbon dioxide was produced?
Express your answer to three significant figures and include the appropriate units.
To find the mass of carbon dioxide produced, we need to determine the mass of oxygen that reacted with the carbon and the mass of oxygen that remained unreacted.
Given:
Mass of carbon burned = 20.4 g
Mass of oxygen present = 71.1 g
Mass of unreacted oxygen = 16.7 g
First, let's find the mass of oxygen that reacted with the carbon:
Mass of oxygen reacted = Mass of oxygen present - Mass of unreacted oxygen
Mass of oxygen reacted = 71.1 g - 16.7 g = 54.4 g
Since carbon reacts with oxygen to form carbon dioxide in a 1:2 ratio, we can calculate the mass of carbon dioxide produced by multiplying the mass of carbon reacted by the ratio of carbon dioxide to carbon (2:1):
Mass of carbon dioxide produced = (Mass of carbon reacted) * (2/1)
Mass of carbon dioxide produced = 54.4 g * (2/1) = 108.8 g
Therefore, the mass of carbon dioxide produced is 108.8 g (to three significant figures).