Question

On a cold winter morning when the temperature is -13°C, the air pressure in an automobile tire is 1.5 atmand the volume is 2.5 L. How many moles of gas would the tire hold?

Answer 1

Answer

0.18 moles of gas

Explanation

Given:

Temperature, T = -13 °C = (-13 + 273.15 K) = 260.15 K

Pressure, P = 1.5 atm

Volume, V = 2.5 L

What to find:

The number of moles of gas the tire hold.

Step-by-step solution:

The number of moles, n of gas the tire hold can be determined using the ideal gas equation.

$\begin{gathered} PV=nRT \\ \\ \Rightarrow n=\frac{PV}{RT} \end{gathered}$

Plugging the values of the given parameters and R = 0.0821 atm•L/mol•K into the ideal gas equation;

$n=\frac{1.5\text{ }atm\times2.5\text{ }L}{0.0821\text{ }atm•L/mol•K\times260.15K}=0.175575648\text{ }mol\approx0.18\text{ }mol$

The number of moles of gas the tire would hold is 0.18 moles