Question

A sample of hydrogen gas was collected over water at 21ºc and 685 mmhg. the volume of the container was 7.80 l. calculate the mass of h2(g) collected. (vapor pressure of water = 18.6 mmhg at 21c.)

Answer 1

To determine the mass of the hydrogen gas that was collected, we calculate for the moles of hydrogen gas from the conditions given. In order to do this, we need an equation which would relate pressure, volume and temperature. For simplicity, we assume the gas is an ideal gas so we use the equation PV = nRT where P is the pressure, V is the volume, n is the number of moles of the gas, T is the temperature and R is the universal gas constant. We calculate as follows:

PV = nRT
n = PV / RT
n = (18.6/760) (7.80) / 0.08205 ( 21 + 273.15)
n = 0.0079 mol

Mass = 0.0079 mol ( 18.02 g / mol ) = 0.1425 g H2