[kmliiank]

Two common gaseous fuels are methane (CH4) and acetylene (C2H6). These fuels produce energy by undergoing the balanced combustion reactions below.
CH4 + 2O2 → CO2 + 2H2O
C2H6 + 7O2 → 4CO2 + 6H2O
Claim, Evidence, Reasoning - Ess is trying to reduce their CO2 emissions, but wants to get 1 L of fuel for their campstove. Given the fact that 1 mole of gas takes up 22.4 L (regardless of size or mass), which fuel should they buy? ( complete the stoichiometry for evidence and explain your reasoning to show your understanding of molar ratios)[fuel for your campstove is typically sold in compressed cylinders, which is an added layer of complexity that we are avoiding for the purposes of simplicity]

-I started by calculating this but I'm stuck from here
1 L ( 1 mol/22.4 L)= 1/22.4= .045 mol
1 L is .045 mol.


- Just need help on this last question from my chem assignment, thank you so much!

[Borek]

Beware: one of the equations is balanced wrong.

You are most likely expected to base your decision on how many liters of CO₂ are produced per 1L of gaseous fuel.

But this question is wrong on at least two levels First: you can't store acetylene just a as a compressed gas. Second: to find which of the fuels is better you should look not at the amount of carbon dioxide produced by burning 1L of fuel, but compare amount of CO₂ produced for cooking a meal (or just boiling a water, to make things easier). That requires going behind just molar ratios and comparing enthalpies of combustion. I understand this is probably beyond what you know now, but I hate it when questions are based on misconceptions and/or wrong assumptions.

[mjc123]

C₂H₆ is ethane, not acetylene.

[Borek]

C₂H₆ is ethane, not acetylene.

Sigh, on the first sight I realized CO₂/H₂O ratio is wrong on the products side, but didn't spot the fundamental mistake.