Question

Suppose you have 6 miles of ethanol(C2H6O)to combust.How many moles of oxygen will the combustion use?

Answer 1

Answer: 18 moles of oxygen will be used.

Explanation:

Combustion is a chemical reaction in which a hydrocarbon is oxidized in the presence of oxygen to give carbon dioxide and water.

The balanced chemical reaction for combustion of ethanol is:

$C_2H_6O+3O_2\rightarrow 2CO_2+3H_2O$

According to stoichiometry :

1 mole of ethanol require  = 3 moles of $O_2$

Thus 6 moles of ethanol will require=$\frac{3}{1}\times 6=18moles$  of $O_2$

Thus 18 moles of oxygen will be used.