Nitroglycerin is a dangerous powerful explosive that violently decomposes when it is shaken or dropped. the swedish chemist alfred nobel (1833-1896) founded the nobel prizes with a fortune he made by inventing dynamite, a mixture of nitroglycerin and inert ingredients that was safe to handle.

1. write a balanced chemical equation, including physical state symbols, for the decomposition of liquid nitroglycerin ( c 3 h 5 no 3 3 ) into gaseous dinitrogen, gaseous dioxygen, gaseous water and gaseous carbon dioxide.

2. suppose 69.0 l of carbon dioxide gas are produced by this reaction, at a temperature of − 5.0 °c and pressure of exactly 1 atm . calculate the mass of nitroglycerin that must have reacted. be sure your answer has the correct number of significant digits.

1. 4C₃H₅(NO₃)₃ (l) → 12CO₂(g) + 10H₂O(g) + O₂(g) + 6N₂(g)

2. 238 g of C₃H₅(NO₃)₃ has been reacted.

Explanation:

This is the chemical reaction:

4C₃H₅(NO₃)₃ (l) → 12CO₂(g) + 10H₂O(g) + O₂(g) + 6N₂(g)

For the second part, let's apply the Ideal Gases Law to find out the moles of CO₂ that were produced.

P . V = n . R . T

1 atm . 69L = n . 0.082 L.atm/mol.K . 268K

(1 atm . 69L) / (0.082 L.atm/mol.K . 268K) = n  → 3.14 moles

In the equation, ratio between nitroglycerin and CO₂ is 12:4.

12 moles of CO₂ were produced by 4 moles of C₃H₅(NO₃)₃

Then, 3.14 moles of CO₂ would have been produced by (3.14  .4) / 12 = 1.04 moles of C₃H₅(NO₃)₃

Let's convert the moles to mass, to find out the mass of nitroglycerin that must have reacted (mol . molar mass)

1.04 mol . 227.08 g/mol = 238 g

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