Suppose 20 atoms of hydrogen (H) react with chlorine (Cl) to produce 20 molecules of hydrochloric acid (HCl). According to the law of conservation of matter, how many atoms of chlorine reacted with the hydrogen?
0
0
40
40
20
20
10
40
According to the law of conservation of matter, the number of atoms of chlorine that reacted with the hydrogen should be equal to the number of atoms of hydrogen.
Therefore, 20 atoms of hydrogen reacted with the chlorine, resulting in 20 molecules of hydrochloric acid.
So, the correct answer is 20.
To find the number of atoms of chlorine that reacted with hydrogen, we can use the balanced chemical equation for the reaction of hydrogen and chlorine to produce hydrochloric acid (HCl):
H2 + Cl2 → 2HCl
From the equation, we can see that 1 molecule of chlorine (Cl2) reacts with 1 molecule of hydrogen (H2) to produce 2 molecules of hydrochloric acid (HCl).
Given that 20 molecules of hydrochloric acid (HCl) were produced, we know that 20/2 = 10 molecules of chlorine (Cl2) were involved in the reaction.
Now, since each molecule of Cl2 contains 2 atoms of chlorine, we can multiply the number of molecules of chlorine by 2 to find the total number of chlorine atoms:
10 molecules of Cl2 x 2 atoms of Cl per molecule = 20 atoms of chlorine
Therefore, 20 atoms of chlorine reacted with the hydrogen atoms.
So, the correct answer is 20.