A mixture of methane and helium gases contains methane at a partial pressure of 371 mm Hg and helium at a partial pressure of 299 mm Hg. What is the mole fraction of each gas in the mixture?
XCH4 =
XHe =
To find the mole fraction of each gas, we first need to convert the partial pressures from mm Hg to atm:
1 atm = 760 mm Hg
Partial pressure of methane (CH4) = 371 mm Hg = 371/760 atm = 0.488 atm
Partial pressure of helium (He) = 299 mm Hg = 299/760 atm = 0.394 atm
Now, we can find the total pressure of the mixture:
Total pressure = Partial pressure of methane + Partial pressure of helium
Total pressure = 0.488 atm + 0.394 atm
Total pressure = 0.882 atm
Now, we can find the mole fraction of each gas:
XCH4 = Partial pressure of methane / Total pressure
XCH4 = 0.488 atm / 0.882 atm
XCH4 = 0.553
XHe = Partial pressure of helium / Total pressure
XHe = 0.394 atm / 0.882 atm
XHe = 0.447
Therefore, the mole fraction of methane in the mixture is 0.553 and the mole fraction of helium is 0.447.