ethanol is a chemical that is used in many hand - sanitizers. it is produced when steam reacts with the…
ethanol is a chemical that is used in many hand - sanitizers. it is produced when steam reacts with the chemical ethylene. consider the following reaction: 1 molecule of ethylene (c₂h₄) reacts with 1 molecule of water (h₂o) to produce some amount of ethanol (c₂h₆o). use the number of atoms in the reaction to answer the question below. chemical element number of atoms in the reaction h 6 c 2 o 1 during this reaction, how many molecules of ethanol (c₂h₆o) are produced?
Answer
Explanation:
Step1: Write the balanced chemical equation
$C_2H_4 + H_2O\rightarrow C_2H_6O$
Step2: Analyze the atom - conservation
From the balanced equation, 1 molecule of ethylene ($C_2H_4$) reacts with 1 molecule of water ($H_2O$) to produce 1 molecule of ethanol ($C_2H_6O$). Also, checking the atom - count in the table: for hydrogen ($H$), in ethylene ($C_2H_4$) there are 4 $H$ atoms and in water ($H_2O$) there are 2 $H$ atoms, total 6 $H$ atoms; for carbon ($C$), there are 2 $C$ atoms in ethylene; for oxygen ($O$), there is 1 $O$ atom in water. These atom - counts match the composition of 1 molecule of ethanol ($C_2H_6O$).
Answer:
1