Question

The great French chemist Antoine Lavoisier discovered the Law of Conservation of Mass in part by doing a famous experiment in 1775. In this experiment Lavoisier found that mercury(II) oxide, when heated, decomposed into liquid mercury and an invisible and previously unknown substance: oxygen gas. 1. Write a balanced chemical equation, including physical state symbols, for the decomposition of solid mercury(II) oxide () into liquid mercury and gaseous dioxygen. 2. Suppose if dioxygen gas are produced by this reaction, at a temperature of and pressure of exactly . Calculate the mass of mercury(II) oxide that must have reacted. Be sure your answer has the correct number of significant digits.

Answer 1

Answer:

1. HgO(s) → Hg(l) + 0.5 O₂(g)

2. 0.858 g

Explanation:

There is some info missing. I think this is the original question.

The great French chemist Antoine Lavoisier discovered the Law of Conservation of Mass in part by doing a famous experiment in 1775. In this experiment Lavoisier found that mercury(II) oxide, when heated, decomposed into liquid mercury and an invisible and previously unknown substance: oxygen gas.

1. Write a balanced chemical equation, including physical state symbols, for the decomposition of solid mercury(II) oxide (HgO) into liquid mercury and gaseous dioxygen.

2. Suppose 59.0 mL of dioxygen gas are produced by this reaction, at a temperature of 90.0 °C and pressure of exactly 1 atm. Calculate the mass of mercury(II) oxide that must have reacted. Be sure your answer has the correct number of significant digits.

1.

The balanced chemical equation is:

HgO(s) → Hg(l) + 0.5 O₂(g)

2.

First, we will calculate the moles of O₂ using the ideal gas equation.

P × V = n × R × T

n = P × V / R × T

n = 1 atm × 0.0590 L / 0.0821 atm.L/mol.K × 363.2 K

n = 1.98 × 10⁻³ mol

The molar ratio of HgO to O₂ is 1:0.5. The moles of HgO are (1/0.5) × 1.98 × 10⁻³ mol = 3.96 × 10⁻³ mol

The molar mass of HgO is 216.59 g/mol. The mass of HgO is:

3.96 × 10⁻³ mol × 216.59 g/mol = 0.858 g