Sapling homework number 10

[Jason_Glass_2L]

When I was doing number 10 on the homework, I kind of assumed that the number of moles of 2-butane was equal to the number of 3-methy-3-hexanol because I never saw anything stated in the problem. How would I actually know the ratio for a problem similar (for example maybe the product of the problem had a coefficient of 2) if it is drawn similar to the diagram in number ten?

[Akshata Kapadne 2K]

I made that same assumption as well. I think the reason we can assume that there is only 1 mole each of 2-butane and 3-methy-3-hexanol is because in the structurally represented equation, the molecules are only drawn once each. If there were 2 moles of 3-methy-3-hexanol, for example, the molecule would be drawn twice, and in that case the coefficient would be 2. This is just my guess, though.

[Nadya Higgins 3F]

I think if it was anything other than one mole, the problem would either draw it more than once or it would specifically state otherwise.

[Sabine Salvucci 2E]

The problem might specify that there is more than 1 mole. If you want to be totally sure though, you could always write the formulas of the given diagrams and try to balance the equation from there.

[Vince Li 2A]

Yeah, I pretty much assumed it as well. I did notice a little inconsistency when I did the problem. When I drew out the molecules and counted the number of Carbons on the reactant side and the product side, they didn't add up. I most likely did something wrong drawing the molecule, but it is possible that maybe if you draw the molecules out, it may help you?

[Jason_Glass_2L]

That makes sense, so this means that there would be another one drawn or the number of moles would be written in the question. When you say write the formula for the given diagram, how would we know the formula? Wouldn't we have to look it up?

[Adrienne Chan 1G]

When you say write the formula for the given diagram, how would we know the formula? Wouldn't we have to look it up?

So the diagram does tell us the formula! It shows us the organic chemistry version of drawing the molecule. It's called the skeletal formula, I believe. The main things you need to know are that vertices represent carbons and that hydrogen atoms attached to carbons are assumed (not drawn out explicitly) http://www.chem.ucla.edu/~harding/IGOC/S/skeletal_formula.html https://www.ivyroses.com/Chemistry/Organic/How-to-draw-skeletal-formulae-of-organic-molecules.php These sites may help you out more!