Sulfuric acid is commonly used as an electrolyte in car batteries. Suppose you spill some on your garage floor. Before cleaning it up, you wisely decide to neutralize it with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) from your kitchen. The reaction of sodium bicarbonate and sulfuric acid is
2NaHCO3(s) + H2SO4(aq) → Na2SO4(aq) + 2CO2(g) + 2H2O(l)
You estimate that your acid spill contains about 1.2 mol H2SO4. What mass of NaHCO3 do you need to neutralize the acid?
To determine the mass of NaHCO3 required to neutralize the given amount of H2SO4, we need to use stoichiometry and the balanced equation of the reaction.
The balanced equation is: 2NaHCO3(s) + H2SO4(aq) → Na2SO4(aq) + 2CO2(g) + 2H2O(l)
From the balanced equation, we can see that the ratio of H2SO4 to NaHCO3 is 1:2. This means that for every 1 mole of H2SO4, we would need 2 moles of NaHCO3.
Given that the acid spill contains 1.2 mol of H2SO4, we can calculate the required amount of NaHCO3 as follows:
1.2 mol H2SO4 x (2 mol NaHCO3 / 1 mol H2SO4) = 2.4 mol NaHCO3
Now, to convert the moles of NaHCO3 to mass, we need to multiply by the molar mass of NaHCO3. The molar mass of NaHCO3 is calculated as:
Na (22.99 g/mol) + H (1.01 g/mol) + C (12.01 g/mol) + O (16.00 g/mol) + O (16.00 g/mol) + O (16.00 g/mol) = 84.01 g/mol
Therefore, the mass of NaHCO3 required to neutralize the acid spill is:
2.4 mol NaHCO3 x 84.01 g/mol NaHCO3 = 201.62 g
Therefore, you would need approximately 201.62 grams of NaHCO3 to neutralize the 1.2 mol H2SO4 acid spill in your garage.
Look at the coefficients in the balanced equation. 1.2 mols H2SO4 will need twice that or 2.4 mols NaHCO3.
Then grams NaHCO3 = mols NaHCO3 x molar mass NaHCO3 = ?