Question

Consider the following balanced chemical equation.

\( 3O_2+C_2H_5OH --> 3H_2O+2CO_2 \)

How is the rate of appearance of \( CO_2, \Delta [CO_2]/\Delta t \), related to the rate of disappearance of \( O_2 \)?

Answer 1

The rate of a reaction is the decrease in the concentration of a reactant over time or the increase in the concentration of a product over time.

For aA + bB --> cC + dD, A and B are reactants and C and D are products. a, b, c, and d are coefficients.

the rate of reaction = \( (-1/a)(\Delta[A]/\Delta t) = (-1/b)(\Delta[B]/\Delta t) = (1/c)(\Delta[C]/\Delta t) = (1/d)(\Delta[D]/\Delta t) \)

For the specific reaction, we consider \( O_2 \) and \( CO_2 \).

rate = \( (-1/3)(\Delta[O_2]/\Delta t) = (1/2)(\Delta[CO_2]/\Delta t) \)

Simplifying this expression, we find that:

\( \Delta[CO_2]/\Delta t = (-2/3)(\Delta[O_2]/\Delta t) \)

 

The rate of appearance of \( CO_2 \) is equal to: (-2/3)\( (\Delta [O_2]/\Delta t) \)