A catalytic converter in an automobile uses a palladium or platinum catalyst (a substance that increases the rate of a reaction without being consumed by the reaction) to convert carbon monoxide gas to carbon dioxide according to the reaction: 2 CO(g) + O₂(g) → 2 CO₂(g) A chemist researching the effectiveness of a new catalyst combines a 2.0:1.0 mole ratio mixture of carbon monoxide and oxygen gas (respectively) over the catalyst in a 2.45-L flask at a total pressure of 745 torr and a temperature of 552 °C. When the reaction is complete, the pressure in the flask has dropped to 552 torr. What percentage of the carbon monoxide was converted to carbon dioxide?

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Hello everyone. Today we have the following problem. A catalytic converter in an automobile uses a palladium or platinum catalyst to convert carbon monoxide gas to carbon dioxide. According to the following reaction, a chemist is researching the effective effectiveness of a new catalyst that combines a 2 to 1 mole ratio mixture of carbon monoxide and oxygen gas respectively over the catalyst and a 2.45 L flask at a total pressure of 745 tor and a temperature of 552 °C. When the temperature is complete, the pressure in a flask has dropped to 552. A tour what percentage of the carbon monoxide was converted to carbon dioxide? Song, we can calculate the pressure of 100% of the reaction through the following equation. And that is the total change. And the pressure that was 100% reacted is equal to our initial pressure subtracted by two thirds of that initial pressure. And so what does that mean? Well, our initial pressure was 745 tor. And if we subtract that by two thirds and the assumption that all of the gas reacted, we multiply that two thirds by that 745 and we arrive at an answer of 2 48.3 tor. So the change in the p of actual, it's simply a difference between our second pressure and our first pressure. So essentially, we have our first pressure subtracted by our second pressure, which is a 745 tour. So o you by 552 tour, this gives us an answer of 193 tour. So to solve for the actual percent of carbon dioxide reacted, we take the actual pressure that was reacted and divide that by the 100% pressure reacted and multiply that by 100. So we have our 193 tor divided by 2 48.3 to. And of course, we multiply that by 100 to arrive at an answer of 77.7% or answer choice. A as our answer overall, I hope this helped. And until next time.

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Key Concepts

Stoichiometry

Gas Laws

Catalysis