Answer:
1.08g
Explanation:
Like all other hydrocarbons, methane burns in oxygen to form carbon iv oxide and water. The chemical equation of this equation is shown below;
CH4 (g) + 2O2 (g) -----------> 2H2O (l) + CO2 (g)
From the reaction equation, we can see that one mole of methane gave 2 moles of water. This is the theoretical yield. We need to note the actual yield.
To get the actual yield, we get the number of moles of methane reacted. To get this, we divide the mass of methane by the molar mass of methane. The molar mass of methane is 16g/mol. The number of moles is thus 0.481/16 = 0.03 moles.
Since 1 mole methane gave 2 moles of water, this shows that 0.06 moles of water were produced. The mass of water thus produced is 0.06 multiplied by the molar mass of water. The molar mass of water is 18g/mol. The mass produced is 0.06 * 18 = 1.08g
Now, we do same for the mass of oxygen. From the reaction equation, 2 moles of oxygen produced two moles of water. Hence, we can see from here that the number of moles here are equal. We then proceed to calculate the actual number of moles of oxygen produced. This is the mass of the oxygen divided by the molar mass of molecular oxygen. The molar mass of molecular oxygen is 32g/mol. The number of moles thus produced is 0.54/32 = 0.016875 mole. The number of moles are equal, this means that the number of moles of oxygen produced is also 0.016875
Now, to get the mass of water produced, we multiply the number of moles by the molar mass of water. The molar mass of water is 18g/mol.
The mass is thus, 0.016875 * 18 = 0.30375g
1.08g is higher and thus is the maximum mass
