Question

In a blast furnace, iron(III) oxide is used to produce iron by the following (unbalanced) reaction. Fe2O3(s) + CO(g) Fe(s) + CO2(g) (a) If 5.00 kg Fe2O3 are available to react, how many moles of CO are needed? mol (b) How many moles of each product are formed?

Answer 1

Hello!

A) The balanced chemical reaction is

Fe₂O₃(s)+ 3CO(g) → 2Fe(s) + 3CO₂(g)

We can use the following conversion factor to go from kg of Fe₂O₃ to moles of CO, in the following way:

$5kg Fe_2O_3* \frac{1000 g}{1 kg}* \frac{1 mol Fe_2O_3}{159,69 g Fe_2O_3}* \frac{3 mol CO}{1 mol Fe_2O_3} =93,93 moles CO$

So, the required amount of CO is 93,93 moles.

B) To calculate the moles of each product we'll use the following conversion factors to go from moles of CO to moles of product, using the reaction coefficients:

$93,93 moles CO* \frac{2 moles Fe}{3 moles CO}=62,62 moles Fe \\ \\ 93,93 moles CO* \frac{3 moles CO_2}{3 moles CO}=93,93 moles CO_2$

So, the moles of Fe are 62,62 and the moles of CO₂ are 93,93.

Have a nice day!