Question

modern cars have devices that combine oxygen with carbon monoxide, a toxic gas produced by car engines. this reaction produces carbon dioxide, which is less toxic. consider the following reaction: 6 molecules of oxygen (o₂) react with 12 molecules of carbon monoxide (co) to produce some amount of carbon dioxide (co₂). complete the table below. chemical element number of atoms in the reaction c o during this reaction, how many molecules of carbon dioxide (co₂) are produced?

Explanation:

Step1: Count carbon atoms

Each CO molecule has 1 C - atom. There are 12 CO molecules. So the number of C - atoms is 12.

Step2: Count oxygen atoms

Each O₂ molecule has 2 O - atoms, so 6 O₂ molecules have 6×2 = 12 O - atoms. Each CO molecule has 1 O - atom, so 12 CO molecules have 12 O - atoms. In total, there are 12 + 12=24 O - atoms.

Step3: Determine the number of CO₂ molecules

The reaction is 2CO + O₂=2CO₂. From the reaction, 2 CO molecules react with 1 O₂ molecule to produce 2 CO₂ molecules. Here, 12 CO molecules and 6 O₂ molecules react. According to the stoichiometry, 12 CO molecules and 6 O₂ molecules will produce 12 CO₂ molecules.

Answer:

Chemical element	Number of atoms in the reaction
O	24

12