Question

Twenty-five tons of coal that is 2.30% sulfur by mass is burned at an electric power plant. During the combustion of the coal, the sulfur is converted into sulfur dioxide. How many tons of sulfur dioxide are produced?

Answer 1

Answer:- 1.15 tons of sulfur dioxide will be produced.

Solution:- From given information, 25 tons of coal has 2.30% sulfur by mass. It means 100 g of sample sample has 2.30 grams of sulfur. This sulfur is converted to sulfur dioxide on combustion.

$S+O_2\rightarrow SO_2$

From balanced equation, 32 g of sulfur(atomic mass) gives 64 g of sulfur dioxide(molar mass) .

We would dimensional analysis of solving this problem.

1 ton = 1000 kg

1 kg = 1000 g

let's make the set up as:

$25tonsCoal(\frac{1000kg}{1ton})(\frac{1000g}{1kg})(\frac{2.3gS}{100gCoal})(\frac{64gSO_2}{32gS})(\frac{1kgSO_2}{1000gSO_2})(\frac{1tonSO_2}{1000kgSO_2})$

= $1.15tonsSO_2$

So, 25 tons of coal sample will produce 1.15 tons of sulfur dioxide.