Question
Sulfur dioxide is a gas released when volcanoes erupt. It can react with oxygen gas to form sulfur trioxide, a chemical that can harm living things. Consider the following reaction: 2 molecules of sulfur dioxide (mathrm(SO)_(2)) react with 1 molecule of oxygen (mathrm(O)_(2)) to produce some amount of sulfur trioxide (mathrm(SO)_(3)) . Use the number of atoms in the reaction to answer the question below. Chemical ecement & Number of atoms in the reaction 0 & 6 S & 2 During this reaction, how many molecules of sulfur trioxide (mathrm(SO)_(3)) are produced?
Answer
4.4
(285 Votes)
Geoffrey
Expert · Tutor for 3 years
Answer
2
Explanation
The question concerns a chemical reaction involving two molecules of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and one molecule of oxygen (O2) to produce sulfur trioxide (SO3). As the chemical formula for sulfur trioxide is SO3 and sulfur dioxide is SO2, for every molecule of oxygen, 2 molecules of sulfur dioxide will form 2 molecules of sulfur trioxide. This is a clear reflection of the law of conservation of mass, which states that mass in a chemical reaction is conserved; the same amount and type of atoms must be present before and after the reaction.