Calculate the mass of CO2 emitted (in lbs) when 1 gallon of octane is burned
Write and balance the equation. Use stoichiometry to calculate mass CO2 formed (in grams) and convert to lbs.
You will need to convert 1 gallon octane to grams and for that you will need the density.
To calculate the mass of CO2 emitted when 1 gallon of octane is burned, we need to know the chemical formula for octane and the molar mass of octane and CO2.
The chemical formula for octane is C8H18, which means it contains 8 carbon atoms and 18 hydrogen atoms. The molar mass of carbon (C) is 12.01 grams/mol, and the molar mass of hydrogen (H) is 1.01 grams/mol.
To find the molar mass of octane, we add up the molar masses of the individual atoms:
8 moles of carbon x 12.01 grams/mol = 96.08 grams
18 moles of hydrogen x 1.01 grams/mol = 18.18 grams
The molar mass of octane is 96.08 + 18.18 = 114.26 grams/mol.
Now, we need to convert the molar mass of octane to pounds. There are approximately 453.6 grams in 1 pound, so:
114.26 grams/mol ÷ 453.6 grams/pound = 0.252 pounds/mol.
Next, we need to determine the number of moles of CO2 produced when 1 mole of octane is burned. The balanced chemical equation for the combustion of octane is:
2 C8H18 + 25 O2 -> 16 CO2 + 18 H2O.
From the equation, we can see that for every 2 moles of octane burned, 16 moles of CO2 are produced.
Using this ratio, we can calculate the number of moles of CO2 produced:
1 mole of octane x (16 moles CO2/2 moles octane) = 8 moles CO2.
Finally, to find the mass of CO2 emitted, we multiply the number of moles of CO2 produced by the molar mass of CO2:
8 moles CO2 x 44.01 grams/mol = 352.08 grams.
Converting grams to pounds:
352.08 grams ÷ 453.6 grams/pound = 0.776 pounds.
Therefore, approximately 0.776 pounds of CO2 are emitted when 1 gallon of octane is burned.