Question

Liquid methanol (CH3OH) reacts with oxygen gas to form carbon dioxide gas and water vapor. Express your answer as a chemical equation. Identify all of the phases in your answer.

Answer 1

Answer:

$2CH_3OH_{(l)} + 3O_2_{(g)} --> 2CO_2_{(g)} + 4H_2O_{(g)}$

Explanation:

The reaction between methanol and oxygen can be expressed as an equation below:

$CH_3OH + O_2 --> CO_2 + H_2O_$

However, the equation is not balanced as the number of the molecule of each atom on the right-hand side and the left-hand side is not the same. The balanced equation showing the phases of all the reactants and products is as below:

$2CH_3OH_{(l)} + 3O_2_{(g)} --> 2CO_2_{(g)} + 4H_2O_{(g)}$

Two molecules of liquid methanol react with three molecules of oxygen gas to give 2 molecules of carbon dioxide gas and four molecules of water vapor.