Question

55.7 moles of PCl5 will decompose to produce how many moles of PCl3 and Cl2 combined ?Enter your answer correct to 1 decimal place

Answer 1

Answer:

55.7 moles of PCl₃ and 55.7 moles of Cl₂

Explanation:

The balanced chemical equation for the reaction in which phosphorus pentachloride (PCl₅) is decomposed in phosphorus trichloride gas (PCl₃) and chloride gas (Cl₂) is the following:

PCl₅(g) → PCl₃(g) + Cl₂(g)

According to the stoichiometric coefficients, 1 mol of PCl₅ produces 1 mol of PCl₃ and 1 mol of Cl₂. So, the stoichiometric ratios reactant/product are: 1 mol PCl₃/1 mol PCl₅ and 1 mol Cl₂/1 mol PCl₅. Thus, we multiply the stoichiometric ratios by the number of moles of reactant:

1 mol PCl₃/1 mol PCl₅ x 55.7 mol PCl₅ = 55.7 mol PCl₃

1 mol Cl₂/1 mol PCl₅ x 55.7 mol PCl₅ = 55.7 mol Cl₂

Therefore, 55.7 moles of PCl₃ and 55.7 moles of Cl₂ are obtained from the decomposition of 55.7 moles of PCl₅.