Question

consider the same reaction: 2 molecules of ethylene (c₂h₄) react with 1 molecule of oxygen (o₂) to produce some amount of acetaldehyde (c₂h₄o). use the number of atoms in the products to answer the question below. chemical element number of atoms in reactants number of atoms in products h 8 8 c 4 4 o 2 2 during this reaction, how many molecules of acetaldehyde (c₂h₄o) are produced?

Explanation:

Step1: Analyze acetaldehyde formula

Each molecule of acetaldehyde ($C_2H_4O$) has 2 carbon atoms, 4 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom.

Step2: Check carbon - atom balance

There are 4 carbon atoms in the reactants. Since each acetaldehyde molecule has 2 carbon atoms, the number of acetaldehyde molecules for carbon - atom balance is $\frac{4}{2}=2$.

Step3: Check hydrogen - atom balance

There are 8 hydrogen atoms in the reactants. Each acetaldehyde molecule has 4 hydrogen atoms, and $\frac{8}{4}=2$ which is consistent with the result from carbon - atom analysis.

Step4: Check oxygen - atom balance

There are 2 oxygen atoms in the reactants. Each acetaldehyde molecule has 1 oxygen atom, and $\frac{2}{1}=2$ which is also consistent.

Answer:

2