Question

phosgene is a substance that is often used to make the padding found in car and airplane seats. it is produced when carbon monoxide and chlorine gas react. consider the following reaction: 3 molecules of carbon monoxide (co) react with 3 molecules of chlorine (cl₂) to produce some amount of phosgene (cocl₂). complete the table below. during this reaction, how many molecules of phosgene (cocl₂) are produced?

Explanation:

Step1: Write the balanced chemical equation

The reaction is \(CO + Cl_2
ightarrow COCl_2\). Since we have 3 molecules of \(CO\) and 3 molecules of \(Cl_2\), the balanced equation for 3 molecules of each reactant is \(3CO+3Cl_2
ightarrow3COCl_2\)

Step2: Count the number of atoms for each element

• For \(C\):

In \(3CO\), each \(CO\) has 1 \(C\) atom. So the number of \(C\) atoms is \(3\times1 = 3\)

• For \(O\):

In \(3CO\), each \(CO\) has 1 \(O\) atom. So the number of \(O\) atoms is \(3\times1=3\)

• For \(Cl\):

In \(3Cl_2\), each \(Cl_2\) has 2 \(Cl\) atoms. So the number of \(Cl\) atoms is \(3\times2 = 6\)

Step3: Determine the number of \(COCl_2\) molecules

From the balanced equation \(3CO + 3Cl_2
ightarrow3COCl_2\), the number of \(COCl_2\) molecules produced is 3

Answer:

Chemical element	Number of atoms in the reaction
\(O\)	\(3\)
\(Cl\)	\(6\)

The number of molecules of phosgene \((COCl_2)\) produced is \(3\)