Methane, CH4 , the major component of natural gas burns in air to form CO2 and H2O. What mass of water is formed in the complete combustion of 5.00 x 103 g of CH4? Why is the answer: 11.2 kg. Thank you.

2 Answers
Feb 21, 2015

Yes, the answer is approximately 11.2 kg, but actually closer to 11.3 kg

Start with the balanced chemical equation

CH4+2O2CO2+2H2O

Now look at the mole ratio that exists between CH4 and H2O: 1 mole of methane will produce 2 moles of water.

In order to see how many moles of water are produced, you must determine how many moles of CH4 react, assuming that oxygen is not a limiting reagent.

5.00103g methane1 mole16.0 g=312.5 moles methane

According to the aforementioned mole ratio, the number of moles of water produced will be

312.5 moles methane2 moles water1 mole methane=625 moles water

Now just use water's molar mass to calculate the actual mass produced

625 moles18.0 g1 mole=11,250 g

Expressed in kilograms, this is equal to

11,250 g1 kg1000 g=11.25 kg of water

If you round this to three sig figs, you'll actually get 11.3 kg.

Feb 21, 2015

CH4+2O2CO2+2H2O

Imole 2 moles

Convert to grams.

( ArC=12,ArH=1,ArO=16)

[12+(4×1)]g2×[16+(2×1)]g

16g2×18=36g

I have assumed the mass of methane to be 5×103g.

So 1g3616g

So 5×103g3616×5×103g

=11.25×103g

=11.25kg