Thursday, November 4, 2010

How many moles of H2O result from the combustion of 1 mole of C2H5OH?

C2H5OH is ethanol or ethyl alcohol and on combustion releases carbon dioxide and water. The easiest way to figure out the number of moles of products generated is by writing a balanced chemical equation for the reaction. 


The combustion of ethanol (C2H5OH) can be represented by the following balanced chemical equation:


`C_2H_5OH + 3O_2 -> 2CO_2 + 3H_2O`


We can check if the equation is balanced by comparing the number of atoms of each element on both sides of the equation. For example, there are 2 atoms of carbon on both sides of the equation. Similarly, there are 7 atoms of oxygen on both sides.


From this equation, we can see that 1 mole of ethanol reacts with 3 moles of oxygen and generates 2 moles of carbon dioxide and 3 moles of water.


Thus, 1 mole of ethanol on complete combustion yields 3 moles of water.


Hope this helps. 

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