In the TV show "Breaking Bad" the characters attempt to use HF acid to dissolve guns (among other things). Here we consider instead dissolving guns (which we will assume are pure iron) with sulfuric acid.
Complete the balanced reaction for reacting iron in dilute sulfuric acid to form aqueous FeSO4. Do not worry about formatting subscripts (i.e. O2 to represent diatomic oxygen gas is fine).
Fe + H2SO4 → FeSO4 + __H2(g)___
How many liters of 1 molar sulfuric acid would be required to dissolve 1 kg of iron? Assume the reaction from the previous part goes to completion. The molecular mass of Fe is 55.85 g/mol.
ANSWER: ???????????????????????
It is apparent that they must use an outside source of electrical power to drive the dissolution of the iron. They use a small current so that the dissolution proceeds with the minimum voltage required. Assume standard values for the electrochemical potentials.
How much electrical energy supplied this way is thus required to dissolve an additional 1 kg of iron? Give your answer in kJ.
ANSWER: ????????????????????????????
The characters realize that their hideout has been discovered by the police and they still have a last handgun that weighs 0.25 kg to dissolve. The cops will get there in an hour, so they have to speed up the reaction, by driving it at a higher current. What is the minimum total voltage in volts they'll need to drive the reaction at to get rid of the gun in time? Consider excess potential because of activation losses only and the exchange current I0 to be 1 A for the reaction over the surface of the entire tank (not a current density). α is 0.5 and everything is being done at room temperature. Assume standard electrochemical potentials.
ANSWER: ???????????????????????????
To complete the balanced reaction for reacting iron in dilute sulfuric acid to form aqueous FeSO4, we need to determine the products of the reaction.
The chemical equation for the reaction can be written as:
Fe + H2SO4 → FeSO4 + H2
Here, iron (Fe) reacts with sulfuric acid (H2SO4) to form aqueous iron sulfate (FeSO4) and hydrogen gas (H2).
Now, let's move on to the second part of the question.
To find the number of liters of 1 molar sulfuric acid required to dissolve 1 kg of iron, we need to use the molar mass of iron and the molarity of the acid.
First, convert 1 kg of iron to grams:
1 kg = 1000 grams
Next, calculate the number of moles of iron:
moles of iron = mass of iron / molar mass of iron
moles of iron = 1000 g / 55.85 g/mol ≈ 17.904 moles
Since the reaction goes to completion, we can assume that 1 mole of iron reacts with 1 mole of sulfuric acid. Therefore, we need 17.904 moles of sulfuric acid.
Now, convert moles of sulfuric acid to liters:
volume of sulfuric acid (in liters) = moles of sulfuric acid / molarity
volume of sulfuric acid = 17.904 moles / 1 M ≈ 17.904 liters
Therefore, approximately 17.904 liters of 1 molar sulfuric acid would be required to dissolve 1 kg of iron.
Moving on to the third part of the question:
To calculate the electrical energy required to dissolve an additional 1 kg of iron, we need to consider the electrochemical potentials of the reaction.
Unfortunately, the question does not provide us with the necessary information to calculate the electrical energy. We would need the standard electrode potentials for the reactions involved, as well as the Faraday constant to calculate the energy change.
As a result, we cannot provide an answer for the third part of the question.
Finally, to answer the last part of the question:
To determine the minimum total voltage required to drive the reaction at a higher current, we need to consider activation losses and the given parameters.
The formula for calculating the exchange current density (i0) is:
i0 = I / A
Here, i0 is the exchange current density, I is the total current, and A is the surface area over which the current is distributed.
The question states that the exchange current I0 is 1 A for the reaction over the entire tank surface (not a current density).
The formula for calculating the total voltage required is:
V = α * E - (RT / nF) * ln(i / i0)
Here, V is the total voltage, α is the transfer coefficient (0.5 in this case), E is the standard electrochemical potential, R is the gas constant, T is the temperature in Kelvin (room temperature), n is the number of electrons involved in the reaction (which depends on the equation), F is the Faraday constant, I is the total current, and i0 is the exchange current density.
Since the question does not provide us with the standard electrochemical potentials (E), we cannot calculate the total voltage required.
As a result, we cannot provide an answer for the last part of the question.