i am really confused! i am doing the production of ethene from fractional distillation and i understand the whole concept of it
what i don't get is how i can write a balanced eqn to show how ethene can be produced from C14H30 (tetradecane?!)
i did
C14H30 ------> C7H14 + C7H16...but the alkene formed is not ethene...
help!!
Responded above to a later repost.
help me toooooooooooo
To write a balanced equation showing the production of ethene (C2H4) from tetradecane (C14H30), you need to break down the C14H30 molecule into smaller fragments.
The first step is to recognize that tetradecane is an alkane, which means it has only single bonds between carbon atoms. In order to produce ethene, we need to break one of the carbon-carbon bonds in the tetradecane molecule to form a double bond, which is characteristic of alkenes.
Here's a step-by-step process to balance the equation:
1. Start by breaking the C14H30 molecule into two smaller fragments, one containing seven carbon atoms (C7H14) and the other containing the remaining seven carbon atoms (C7H16). This will create the necessary double bond.
2. Now, we can write the equation as follows:
C14H30 → C7H14 + C7H16 + H2
Note that we also include hydrogen gas (H2) on the right side of the equation because the breaking of the carbon-carbon bond creates two new hydrogen atoms that were previously bonded to the carbon atoms.
3. Next, balance the equation by ensuring the number of atoms on both sides of the equation are equal. In this case, we have:
C14H30 → 2C7H14 + C7H16 + H2
By adding an extra C7H14 fragment on the right side of the equation, we maintained the same number of carbon and hydrogen atoms on both sides.
And there you have it! The balanced equation for the production of ethene from tetradecane is:
C14H30 → 2C7H14 + C7H16 + H2