Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.
First-Order Reactions
First-order reactions are chemical reactions where the rate is directly proportional to the concentration of one reactant. In this case, the decomposition of dinitrogen pentoxide (N2O5) follows first-order kinetics, meaning that as N2O5 is consumed, the rate of reaction decreases. The half-life of a first-order reaction is constant and can be used to determine the concentration of reactants over time.
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Half-Life
The half-life of a reaction is the time required for the concentration of a reactant to decrease to half of its initial value. For first-order reactions, the half-life is independent of the initial concentration. In this problem, the half-life of 2.81 hours allows us to calculate how much N2O5 remains after a specific time, which is crucial for determining the amount of products formed, including oxygen gas (O2).
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Partial Pressure
Partial pressure is the pressure exerted by a single component of a gas mixture. According to Dalton's Law of Partial Pressures, the total pressure of a gas mixture is the sum of the partial pressures of its individual gases. In this scenario, calculating the partial pressure of O2 produced from the decomposition of N2O5 involves understanding the stoichiometry of the reaction and the initial conditions of the system.
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Partial Pressure Calculation