Burning acetylene in oxygen can produce three different carbon-containing products: soot (very fine particles of graphite), CO(g), and CO 2 (g). (c) Why, when the oxygen supply is adequate, is CO 2 (g) the predominant carbon-containing product of the combustion of acetylene?

Hey everyone. The question here states the combustion of hydrocarbons can produce soot, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, which of the following statements is correct. So before we look at our answer choices, let's go ahead and think about a combustion reaction. For example, let's use methane and we react this with oxygen. When we do this, we have a combustion reaction where we produce carbon dioxide and water vapor. And to balance this out, we would need to add a two prior to our water and a two prior to our oxygen gas. So let's go ahead and look at our answer choices when comparing these. We can see that we have a difference here in our product of combustion, we have carbon monoxide for C and C for D. Since we already wrote out our combustion reaction, we can eliminate cnd since we know that we produce carbon dioxide. Now, let's go ahead and choose the right answer. When there is excess oxygen, the predominant product of combustion is carbon dioxide because oxygen or carbon is completely oxidized. So let's think about this. So looking at our reaction For oxygen, we see that our oxidation state goes from a zero two, a negative two. So this means it gets reduced and we also know that oxygen is a great oxidizing agent. And since we know this, that means we can eliminate a so our answer here is going to be be because when there is excess oxygen, the predominant product of combustion is carbon dioxide because carbon is completely oxidized and we know this is correct because carbon does gain electrons through those oxygen's. So I hope this made sense and let us know if you have any questions.

Ch.3 - Chemical Reactions and Reaction Stoichiometry

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Brown 14th Edition

Ch.3 - Chemical Reactions and Reaction Stoichiometry

Problem 109c

Chapter 3, Problem 109c

Burning acetylene in oxygen can produce three different carbon-containing products: soot (very fine particles of graphite), CO(g), and CO₂(g). (c) Why, when the oxygen supply is adequate, is CO₂(g) the predominant carbon-containing product of the combustion of acetylene?

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1. The combustion of acetylene (C2H2) in oxygen (O2) can produce three different carbon-containing products: soot (C), carbon monoxide (CO), and carbon dioxide (CO2). The reactions can be represented as follows: C2H2 + O2 -> C + H2O C2H2 + 1.5O2 -> CO + H2O C2H2 + 2.5O2 -> CO2 + H2O

2. The formation of these products depends on the amount of oxygen present during the combustion. When the oxygen supply is limited, incomplete combustion occurs, leading to the formation of soot and CO. This is because there isn't enough oxygen to fully oxidize the carbon in acetylene to CO2.

3. However, when the oxygen supply is adequate, complete combustion occurs, leading to the formation of CO2. This is because there is enough oxygen to fully oxidize the carbon in acetylene to CO2.

4. The reason why CO2 is the predominant product when there is enough oxygen is because the formation of CO2 is more exothermic (releases more energy) than the formation of CO or soot. This makes the reaction that forms CO2 more thermodynamically favorable.

5. In summary, when the oxygen supply is adequate, CO2 is the predominant carbon-containing product of the combustion of acetylene because the reaction that forms CO2 is more exothermic and therefore more thermodynamically favorable.

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Key Concepts

Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.

Combustion Reaction

A combustion reaction is a chemical process in which a substance reacts rapidly with oxygen, producing heat and light. In the case of acetylene (C2H2), complete combustion occurs when there is sufficient oxygen, resulting in carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) as the primary products. Understanding this reaction is crucial to explaining why CO2 is the predominant product under adequate oxygen conditions.

Stoichiometry of Combustion

Stoichiometry involves the calculation of reactants and products in chemical reactions based on balanced equations. For the complete combustion of acetylene, the balanced equation shows that two moles of acetylene react with five moles of oxygen to produce four moles of carbon dioxide and two moles of water. This ratio indicates that, with sufficient oxygen, CO2 is produced in greater quantities than other carbon products like CO or soot.

Oxygen Availability and Product Formation

The availability of oxygen significantly influences the products formed during combustion. In conditions of limited oxygen, incomplete combustion can occur, leading to the formation of carbon monoxide (CO) and soot. However, when oxygen is abundant, the combustion of acetylene favors the formation of carbon dioxide (CO2), as it allows for the complete oxidation of carbon, resulting in fewer byproducts.

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Burning acetylene in oxygen can produce three different carbon-containing products: soot (very fine particles of graphite), CO(g), and CO2(g). (c) Why, when the oxygen supply is adequate, is CO2(g) the predominant carbon-containing product of the combustion of acetylene?

Verified Solution

Key Concepts

Combustion Reaction

Stoichiometry of Combustion

Oxygen Availability and Product Formation

Burning acetylene in oxygen can produce three different carbon-containing products: soot (very fine particles of graphite), CO(g), and CO₂(g). (c) Why, when the oxygen supply is adequate, is CO₂(g) the predominant carbon-containing product of the combustion of acetylene?