Question

Consider the unbalanced equation for the combustion of hexane: C6H14 (g) O2 (g) --> CO2 (g) H2O (g) Balance the equation and determine how many moles of O2 are required to react completely with 7.2 moles of C6H14.

Answer 1

The balanced equation is

2 C6H14 (g) + 19 O2 (g) --> 12 CO2 (g) + 14 H2O (g)

Explanation:

For solving the stoichiometric calculations, we first need to do two steps. One of them is balancing the reaction equation. Here the balancing is done and we can see that 2 moles of hexane reacts with 19 moles of oxygen to produce 12 moles of carbon dioxide and 14 moles of water.

Now, for 2 moles of hexane, number of moles of oxygen required is 19.

So, for 7.2 moles of hexane, number of moles of oxygen required is$\frac {19}{2}\times 7.2$.

= 68.4.

So 68.4 moles of oxygen is required.