Sulfur burns in the presence of oxygen to produce sulfur dioxide. Explain how the mass of sulfur dioxide produced compares to the combined mass of sulfur and oxygen.
What does the law of conservation of mass indicate?
Is this on the right track?.....mass cannot be created/destroyed, although it may be rearranged in space, and changed into different types of particles. This implies that for any chemical process in a closed system, the mass of the reactants must equal the mass of the products.
To determine how the mass of sulfur dioxide produced compares to the combined mass of sulfur and oxygen, we need to look at the law of conservation of mass. According to this law, matter is neither created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction, but it simply changes form.
Let's consider the balanced chemical equation for the combustion of sulfur:
S + O₂ → SO₂
This equation tells us that one sulfur atom (S) reacts with one molecule of oxygen gas (O₂) to produce one molecule of sulfur dioxide (SO₂).
To compare the masses, we need to consider the atomic masses of each element. The atomic mass of sulfur (S) is approximately 32 grams per mole, while the atomic mass of oxygen (O) is approximately 16 grams per mole. In this reaction, we have one sulfur atom and two oxygen atoms (O₂), so the total mass of sulfur and oxygen is:
Mass of sulfur = 32 grams per mole
Mass of oxygen (O₂) = 2 * (16 grams per mole) = 32 grams per mole
Therefore, the combined mass of sulfur and oxygen is 32 + 32 = 64 grams per mole.
Now, according to the chemical equation, one mole of sulfur reacts with one mole of oxygen to produce one mole of sulfur dioxide. The molecular mass of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) is approximately 64 grams per mole.
Therefore, the mass of sulfur dioxide produced is equal to the combined mass of sulfur and oxygen, which is 64 grams per mole.
In summary, the mass of sulfur dioxide produced is equal to the combined mass of sulfur and oxygen due to the law of conservation of mass.