Acetylene torches are used for welding. These torches use a mixture of acetylene

Question

Acetylene torches are used for welding. These torches use a mixture of acetylene gas, C2H2, and oxygen gas, O2 to produce the following combustion reaction:

2C2H2(g)+5O2(g)4CO2(g)+2H2O(g)

Imagine that you have a 5.50 L gas tank and a 3.50 L gas tank. You need to fill one tank with oxygen and the other with acetylene to use in conjunction with your welding torch. If you fill the larger tank with oxygen to a pressure of 145 atm , to what pressure should you fill the acetylene tank to ensure that you run out of each gas at the same time? Assume ideal behavior for all gases.

Explanation / Answer

2C2H2(g) + 5O2(g) ----> 4CO2(g) + 2H2O(g)

2 mol c2h2 = 5 mol o2

No of mol of o2 taken = PV/RT

                      = (145*5.5)/(0.0821*298)

                      = 32.6 mol

no of mol of C2H2 required = 32.6*2/5 = 13.04 mol

pressure of samll tank must be filled by c2h2

         = nRT/V

        = 13.04*0.0821*298/3.5

        = 91.15 atm

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