Sulfuric acid is essential to dozens of important industries from steelmaking to

Question

Sulfuric acid is essential to dozens of important industries from steelmaking to plastics and pharmaceuticals. More sulfuric acid is made than any other industrial chemical, and world production exceeds 2.0% 10'1 kg per year. The first step in the synthesis of sulfuric acid is usually burning solid sulfur to make sulfur dioxide gas. Suppose an engineer studying this reaction introduces 2.5 kg of solid sulfur and 9.30 atm of oxygen gas at 400. °C into an evacuated 50.0 L tank. The engineer believes Kp 63. for the reaction at this temperature Calculate the mass of solid sulfur he expects to be consumed when the reaction reaches equilibrium. Round your answer to 2 significant digits Note for advanced students: the engineer may be mistaken in his belief about the value of K, and the consumption of sulfur you calculate may not be what he actually observes. kg

Explanation / Answer

Answer

0.10kg

Explanation

S(s) + O2(g) <--------> SO2(g)

Kp = PSO2/PO2 = 0.63

at equillibrium

PSO2 = x

PO2 = 9.30 - x

x/9.30 - x = 0.63

x + 0.63x = 5.859

x = 3.594

Therefore at equillibrium

PSO2 = 3.594atm

Now calculate the SO2 using ideal gas law

PV= nRT

n = PV /RT

= 3.594atm × 50L /0.082057(L atm /mol K) ×673.15K

= 3.2533mol

Stoichiometrically, 1mole of SO2 comes from 1mole of S

therefore

no of moles of S consumed = 3.2533

molar mass of Sulphure = 32.07g/mol

mass of S consumed = 32.07g/mol × 3.2533mol = 104.3g = 0.10kg

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