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Ch.10 - Gases: Their Properties & Behavior
Chapter 10, Problem 83

A gas mixture for use in some lasers contains 5.00% by weight HCl, 1.00% H2, and 94% Ne. The mixture is sold in cylinders that have a volume of 49.0 L and a pressure of 13,800 kPa at 210 °C. What is the partial pressure in kilopascals of each gas in the mixture?

Verified step by step guidance
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Step 1: Convert the temperature from Celsius to Kelvin using the formula: T(K) = T(°C) + 273.15. This will be used in the ideal gas law calculations.
Step 2: Use the ideal gas law, PV = nRT, to find the total number of moles of gas in the cylinder. Here, P is the total pressure (13,800 kPa), V is the volume (49.0 L), R is the ideal gas constant (8.314 L·kPa/mol·K), and T is the temperature in Kelvin.
Step 3: Calculate the mass of each component in the gas mixture using their percentage by weight. For example, the mass of HCl is 5.00% of the total mass of the gas mixture.
Step 4: Convert the mass of each gas to moles using their respective molar masses. For instance, use the molar mass of HCl to convert its mass to moles.
Step 5: Determine the partial pressure of each gas using the mole fraction and the total pressure. The partial pressure of a gas is given by: P_gas = (mole fraction of gas) × (total pressure).

Key Concepts

Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.

Dalton's Law of Partial Pressures

Dalton's Law states that in a mixture of non-reacting gases, the total pressure exerted is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of each individual gas. Each gas's partial pressure can be calculated using the formula: P_total = P_HCl + P_H2 + P_Ne, where P represents the partial pressure of each gas. This law is fundamental for understanding how gases behave in mixtures.
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Ideal Gas Law

The Ideal Gas Law, represented as PV = nRT, relates the pressure (P), volume (V), number of moles (n), the ideal gas constant (R), and temperature (T) of a gas. This equation allows us to calculate the number of moles of gas in a mixture, which is essential for determining the partial pressures of each component in the gas mixture based on their mole fractions.
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Mole Fraction

Mole fraction is a way of expressing the concentration of a component in a mixture, defined as the ratio of the number of moles of that component to the total number of moles of all components. It is crucial for calculating partial pressures, as the partial pressure of each gas can be found by multiplying its mole fraction by the total pressure of the gas mixture.
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