Question

You want to help your little brother make an exploding volcano for his science class. The lava will be made from reacting baking soda (NaHCO3) with vinegar (HC2H3O2). After building the volcano, you know that you want to create about 100.0g of lava (or sodium acetate, NaC2H3O2). Too little lava, and the volcano won’t overflow. Too much lava would be a giant mess! Using stoichiometry and the equation below, calculate the exact amount of baking soda needed to make 100.0g of lava. Assume you have excess vinegar.NaHCO3 + HC2H3O2 → NaC2H3O2 + H2O + CO2

Answer 1

Answer:

• 102.4g

Explanation:

1. Balanced chemical equation

    $NaHCO_3+HC_2H_3O_2\longrightarrow NaC_2H_3O_2+H_2O+CO_2$

2. Number of moles of lava

• #moles = mass in grams / molar mass

• molar mass of NaC₂H₃O₂ = 82.0343 g/mol

• #moles = 100.0g / 82.0343g/mol = 1.2190mol

3. Number of moles of NaHCO₃

• Mole ratio

From the balanced chemical equation every mole of baking soda (NaHCO₃) produces one mole of lava (NaC₂H₃O₂). Thus, to produce 1.2190 moles of lava, 1.2190 moles of NaHCO₃ are required.

4. Mass of bakind soda required

Convert 1.2190 moles of NaHCO₃ into mass:

• mass = number of moles × molar mass

• molar mass of NaHCO₃ = 84.007 g/mol

• mass = 1.2190 mol × 84.007g/mol = 102.4g ← answer