Question

A sample of gas isolated from unrefined petroleum contains 90.0% CH4, 8.9% C2H6, and 1.1% C3H8 at a total pressure of 3.34 atm. What is the partial pressure of each component of this gas

Answer 1

Answer:

The partial pressure of each component of this gas is:

• Partial pressure of methane= 3.006 atm

• Partial pressure of ethane=  0.29726 atm

• Partial pressure of propane= 0.03674 atm

Explanation:

The partial pressure of a gas in a mixture is the pressure that gas would exert if it were alone in the container.

On the other hand, the mole fraction is a dimensionless quantity that expresses the ratio of the number of moles of a component with the number of moles of all the components present.

Dalton's Law of Partial Pressures states that the partial pressure of each gas is equal to the total pressure of the gas mixture multiplied by the mole fraction of that gas.

The partial pressures then, can be calculated by multiplication of the percents by the total pressure.

So, the partial pressure of each component of this gas is: :

• $Partial pressure of methane= \frac{90}{100} *3.34 atm=0.9*3.34 atm$

Partial pressure of methane= 3.006 atm

• $Partial pressure of ethane= \frac{8.9}{100} *3.34 atm=0.089*3.34 atm$

Partial pressure of ethane=  0.29726 atm

• $Partial pressure of propane= \frac{1.1}{100} *3.34 atm=0.011*3.34 atm$

Partial pressure of propane= 0.03674 atm