15.37C

[Wilson Yeh 1L]

Sulfuryl chloride, SO2Cl2, decomposes by first-order kinetics, and k = 2.81 x 10^-3 min^-1 at a certain temperature. (a) Determine the half-life for the reaction. (b) Determine the time needed for the concentration of SO2Cl2 to decrease to 10% of its initial concentration. (c) If 14.0 g of SO2Cl2 is sealed in a 2500.-L reaction vessel and heated to the specifi ed temperature, what mass will remain after 1.5 h?

For part C, is the 2500.-L irrelevant? I managed to solve for the final answer without ever taking the volume into account. Am I doing something wrong?

[Janine Chan 2K]

Nope you're good, if you divide both the initial and final mass by liters to find the concentrations of each, the liters will cancel out when you plug into [A]_t=[A]₀e^-ktanyway.

[Sue Xu 2K]

It is possible to solve the question without the volume, but you can still calculate the concentration with the mass and the volume first and then calculate the final mass.

[Anna Okabe]

I think it would be safer to use the volume and use the molarity every time, so that you can avoid making mistakes in the future.

[Emma Miltenberger 2I]

In this case, the volume cancels out. However, it is good practice to use the volume to solve for molarity and use molarity in the equation to ensure you do not make an arithmetic mistake on a test.

[Michelle Lu 1F]

In this particular situation, the volumes end up cancelling out, so if you were able to recognize this was going to occur, then you could have left it out of the picture. However, common safe practice involves solving for the concentration using the mass given and the volume 2500. L, and this could lead to less errors.