Many home barbeques are fueled with propane gas C3H8.

What mass of carbon dioxide (in kg) is produced upon the complete combustion of 18.9L of propane (approximate contents of one 5-gallon tank)? Assume that the density of the liquid propane in the tank is 0.621g/ml.

How do I start & work this question?

I wrote a balanced equation:
C3H8 + 5O2 -> 4H2O + 3CO2

Now, where do I go from here?

The propane is liquid. Determine the mass from the volume and liquid. Convert that mass to moles.

For each mole of propane, you get (from the balanced equation) three times as much CO2. Convert moles of carbon dioxide to kg

Great job on writing the balanced equation for the combustion of propane! Now, let's break down the problem into steps to find the mass of carbon dioxide produced.

Step 1: Convert the given volume of propane to mass.
To do this, you'll need the density of propane, which is 0.621 g/mL. Given that the propane is in a 5-gallon tank, we need to find the mass of propane in the 18.9 L (since 1 gallon is approximately 3.785 L).

To convert from volume to mass, you can use the formula:
Mass = Volume x Density

First, convert 5 gallons to liters:
5 gallons x 3.785 L/gallon = 18.925 L

Now, calculate the mass of propane:
Mass of Propane = Volume of Propane x Density of Propane
Mass of Propane = 18.925 L x 0.621 g/mL

Make sure to convert liters to milliliters:
Mass of Propane = 18.925 L x (1000 mL / 1 L) x 0.621 g/mL

Step 2: Calculate the moles of propane.
To do this, you'll need the molar mass of propane, which is the sum of the individual atomic masses of carbon and hydrogen.

Propane (C3H8):
Carbon (C) atomic mass = 12.01 g/mol
Hydrogen (H) atomic mass = 1.008 g/mol
Molar mass of propane = (3 x 12.01 g/mol) + (8 x 1.008 g/mol)

Now, divide the mass of propane (from step 1) by its molar mass to find the moles of propane.

Step 3: Use the balanced equation to determine the moles of carbon dioxide produced.
According to the balanced equation you wrote, for every 1 mole of propane, you produce 3 moles of carbon dioxide. So use the mole ratio to calculate the moles of carbon dioxide produced.

Step 4: Convert moles of carbon dioxide to mass.
To convert moles of carbon dioxide to mass, you'll need the molar mass of carbon dioxide (CO2). The molar mass of carbon dioxide is the sum of the atomic masses of carbon and oxygen.

Carbon dioxide (CO2):
Carbon (C) atomic mass = 12.01 g/mol
Oxygen (O) atomic mass = 16.00 g/mol
Molar mass of carbon dioxide = (12.01 g/mol) + (2 x 16.00 g/mol)

Finally, multiply the moles of carbon dioxide (from step 3) by its molar mass to find the mass of carbon dioxide produced.

That's it! By following these steps, you can calculate the mass of carbon dioxide produced upon the complete combustion of the given volume of propane.

To solve this problem, we need to determine the number of moles of propane and then use the balanced chemical equation to calculate the number of moles of carbon dioxide produced. Finally, we can convert moles of carbon dioxide to mass using the molar mass of carbon dioxide.

Here are the steps to solve the problem:

Step 1: Convert the volume of propane from liters to grams.
Given that the density of liquid propane is 0.621 g/ml and the volume of propane is 18.9 L, we can use the density formula to convert the volume to mass:
Mass of propane = Volume x Density
Mass of propane = 18.9 L x 0.621 g/ml

Step 2: Calculate the number of moles of propane.
To convert the mass of propane to moles, we need to divide the mass by the molar mass of propane.
The molar mass of C3H8 is:
3(12.01 g/mol) + 8(1.01 g/mol) = 44.11 g/mol

Number of moles of propane = Mass of propane / Molar mass of propane

Step 3: Use the balanced chemical equation to determine the number of moles of carbon dioxide produced.
From the balanced chemical equation:
1 mole of C3H8 reacts to produce 3 moles of CO2
Therefore, the number of moles of CO2 produced is:
Number of moles of CO2 = Number of moles of propane x (3 moles of CO2 / 1 mole of C3H8)

Step 4: Convert moles of carbon dioxide to mass.
To convert the number of moles of carbon dioxide to mass, we need to multiply the number of moles by the molar mass of carbon dioxide.
The molar mass of CO2 is:
12.01 g/mol (carbon) + 2 x 16.00 g/mol (oxygen) = 44.01 g/mol

Mass of carbon dioxide = Number of moles of CO2 x Molar mass of CO2

By following these steps, you should be able to calculate the mass of carbon dioxide produced upon the complete combustion of the given amount of propane.