Use the chemical equation to complete the activity.
4Fe + 3O2 → 2Fe2O3
Iron (Fe) reacts with oxygen (O2) to form iron oxide. A scientist adds 15.4 grams of Fe to 3.6 grams of O2 to start the reaction. All of the iron and oxygen react to form iron oxide. Explain in detail how you can determine how many grams of iron oxide will be produced.
Use the law of conservation of mass in the explanation.
To determine how many grams of iron oxide will be produced, we need to use the law of conservation of mass. According to this law, mass cannot be created or destroyed during a chemical reaction, it can only be rearranged.
In the given equation, we see that 4 moles of iron (Fe) react with 3 moles of oxygen (O2) to produce 2 moles of iron oxide (Fe2O3).
To find the number of moles of each reactant, we can use the molar masses. The molar mass of iron (Fe) is 55.85 g/mol and the molar mass of oxygen (O2) is 32.00 g/mol.
Using the given masses, we can calculate the number of moles of each reactant:
Number of moles of Fe = 15.4 g / 55.85 g/mol = 0.276 moles
Number of moles of O2 = 3.6 g / 32.00 g/mol = 0.1125 moles
Now, we can use the stoichiometry of the balanced equation to determine the number of moles of product (Fe2O3) formed. From the equation, we can see that 4 moles of Fe react to form 2 moles of Fe2O3. Therefore, the ratio is 4:2 or simplified to 2:1.
Using this ratio, we can calculate the number of moles of Fe2O3 formed:
Number of moles of Fe2O3 = 0.276 moles of Fe x (2 moles of Fe2O3 / 4 moles of Fe) = 0.138 moles
Finally, to determine the mass of iron oxide formed, we multiply the number of moles of Fe2O3 by its molar mass, which is 159.69 g/mol:
Mass of Fe2O3 = 0.138 moles of Fe2O3 x 159.69 g/mol = 22.00 grams
Therefore, 22.00 grams of iron oxide will be produced in this reaction.