Consider the following unbalanced reaction:
Fe2O3 (s) + CO (g) --> Fe (s) + CO2 (g)
How many moles of carbon dioxide are produced per mole of iron (III) oxide reacted.
The coefficients tell you. First, balance it.
Fe2O3 + 3CO ==>2Fe + 3CO2
1 mol Fe2O3 = 3 moles CO = 2 moles Fe = 3 moles CO2
To determine the number of moles of carbon dioxide produced per mole of iron (III) oxide reacted, you need to balance the chemical equation first. The equation you provided is unbalanced, which means that the number of atoms on each side of the equation is not equal.
To balance the equation:
Fe2O3 (s) + CO (g) → Fe (s) + CO2 (g)
1. Count the number of atoms on each side:
On the left side (reactants):
Fe: 2 atoms
O: 3 atoms
C: 1 atom
On the right side (products):
Fe: 1 atom
O: 2 atoms
C: 1 atom
2. Start by balancing the elements that appear in the fewest compounds. In this case, let's start with Fe and C.
Fe2O3 (s) + CO (g) → 2Fe (s) + CO2 (g)
Now, the number of Fe atoms is balanced.
3. Balance the O atoms. The reactant side has three oxygen atoms coming from the Fe2O3 compound, while the product side has two oxygen atoms coming from CO2.
Fe2O3 (s) + CO (g) → 2Fe (s) + 3CO2 (g)
Now, the number of oxygen atoms is balanced.
4. Finally, check the balanced equation to make sure all elements are balanced.
Fe: 2 atoms on both sides
O: 3 atoms on both sides
C: 1 atom on both sides
Now that the equation is balanced, you can determine the moles of carbon dioxide produced per mole of iron (III) oxide reacted.
From the balanced equation, you can see that for every 1 mole of Fe2O3 that reacts, 3 moles of CO2 are produced. Therefore, the number of moles of carbon dioxide produced per mole of iron (III) oxide reacted is 3.