Hello.
My teacher recently gave us this question and I'm having a bit of a hard time figuring it out. I've tried approaching him twice to no avail. I'd like some help in (iii) and (iv).
Question:
2 scientists collected samples of a flammable gas, A, which was found to be a hydrocarbon.
When 10cm3 of A was mixed at room temperature with 50cm3 of Oxygen (excess), it exploded. 40cm3 of gas remained.
When the 40cm3 of gas was shaken with an excess of aqueous KOH, 30cm3 of gas still remained.
i) What is the identity of the 30cm3 of gas that remained at the end of the experiment?
- Here, we both got oxygen so there's no problem.
ii) The combustion of A produced a gas that reacted with the KOH. What is the identity of the gas?
- Here, we both go CO2 so again, no problem.
iii) What volume of the gas you've identified in (ii) above was produced by the combustion of A?
- The answer is 10cm3, supposedly. I'm not sure how he got it, however, I believe it has something to do with the general equation:
CxHy + (x + y/4)O2 --> XCO2 + y/2 H2O
If 40cm3 of the gas (oxygen) remained then that means that 10cm3 was used up. As to how we would use this, I'm completely blank. Also, this is the first time I've seen this general equation.
(iv) What volume of O2 was used up in the combustion of A?
- The answer he got is 20cm3 but I got 10cm3. This is because according to the question, 10cm3 were used for the combustion, and 10cm3 were used for the reaction with KOH. Which one is correct here?
Thanks.