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help with balancing
Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 2:39 am
by smaxton
what i one way to balance 2C8 H18 + O2 = CO + H2O
Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 11:20 am
by KriggY
its
2C8H18 + 17O2 = 16CO + 18H2O
another option is:
2C8H18 + 25O2 = 16CO2 + 18H2O
need help balancing
Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 3:00 am
by smaxton
cheers
Re: help with balancing
Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 3:43 pm
by GrahamKemp
Step by step.
(1) Partial Oxidation (produces carbon monoxide)
x C8H18 + y O2 = z CO + w H2O
Balance C: z = 8x.
Balance H: 2w = 18x, or w = 9x.
x C8H18 + y O2 = 8x CO + 9x H2O
Balance O: 2y = 8x + 9x, or 2y = 17x.
Lowest Integer Solution: y = 17, x = 2
2 C8H18 + 17 O2 = 16 CO + 18 H2O
(2) Complete Oxidation (produces carbon dioxide)
You just need an extra 16 O (as 8 O2) to produce 16 CO2 instead of 16 CO.
2 C8H18 + 25 O2 = 16 CO2 + 18 H2O