Chemical Reaction: NH4NO3 Decomposition

What mass, in grams, of H2O is produced when 160.1 g of NH4NO3 decomposes?

a) 72.04 grams

Final answer:

About 72.04 grams of water (H2O) would be produced from the reaction when starting with 160.1g of NH4NO3.

Explanation:

The chemical equation NH4NO3 → N2O + 2H2O illustrates that one molecule of NH4NO3 produces 2 molecules of H2O. Hence, the ratio of NH4NO3 to H2O is 1:2.

First, we need to compute how many moles of NH4NO3 we have. We can do this by dividing the given weight of NH4NO3 (160.1 g) by its molar mass (80.03 g/mol). Therefore, we have 160.1 g / 80.03 g/mol = roughly 2 moles of NH4NO3.

Since the mole ratio of NH4NO3 to H2O is 1:2, we can directly calculate that 2 moles of NH4NO3 would produce 2*2 = 4 moles of H2O.

Finally, to convert the quantity of water from moles to grams, we multiply the moles of water by the molar mass of water (18.01 g/mol). Therefore, the mass of H2O produced would be 4 moles * 18.01 g/mol = 72.04 g.