Question

Driving from Santa Cruz to Black Rock City, NV in the Black Rock Desert is 393 miles. Yes that is where Burning Man is held. If your truck gets 15.0 mi/gal, and the density of octane (C₈H₁₈, gasoline) is 0.703 g/mL, how many pounds of carbon dioxide (CO₂) would be generated by the round trip to Black Rock City (786 miles total trip)? The balanced chemical equation is provided below. Remember to use the three key conversion factors to convert between SI and English systems of measure.

Answer 1

2C8H18 + 25O2 = 16CO2 + 18H2O 

1 gal = 3.785 L

𝑚(𝐶8𝐻18) = 𝜌(𝐶8𝐻18)𝑉(𝐶8𝐻18) = 0.703 ∙ 3.785 ∙ 1000 = 2661 𝑔

𝑚(𝐶𝑂2)=2𝑚(𝐶8𝐻18) ∙16𝑀(𝐶𝑂2)/𝑀(𝐶8𝐻18)

=2 ∙ 2661 ∙ 16 ∙ 44/114

= 32866 𝑔

𝑚(𝐶𝑂2)= 32866 𝑔

= 72.46 𝑝𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑠