Hydrogen cyanide, HCN, is prepared from ammonia, air, and natural gas (CH4) by the following process: Hydrogen cyanide is used to prepare sodium cyanide, which is used in part to obtain gold from gold-containing rock. If a reaction vessel contains 5.90 g NH3, 11.0 g O2, and 4.67 g CH4, what is the maximum mass in grams of hydrogen cyanide that could be made, assuming the reaction goes to completion as written?

The mass of HCN that could be made is 6.183 grams

Explanation:

To calculate the number of moles, we use the equation:

     .....(1)

Given mass of ammonia = 5.90 g

Molar mass of ammonia = 17 g/mol

Putting values in equation 1, we get:

Given mass of oxygen gas = 11.0 g

Molar mass of oxygen gas = 32 g/mol

Putting values in equation 1, we get:

Given mass of methane = 4.67 g

Molar mass of methane = 16 g/mol

Putting values in equation 1, we get:

For the given chemical reaction:

The mole ratio of the reactants are:

As, the moles of oxygen gas is the lowest. So, it is considered as the limiting reagent

By Stoichiometry of the reaction:

3 moles of oxygen gas produces 2 moles of HCN

So, 0.344 moles of oxygen gas will produce = of HCN

Now, calculating the mass of HCN from equation 1, we get:

Molar mass of HCN = 27 g/mol

Moles of HCN = 0.229 moles

Putting values in equation 1, we get:

Hence, the mass of HCN that could be made is 6.183 grams