Question 32

Sodium carbonate solution and dilute nitric acid react together to form carbon dioxide gas, which bubbles out of the mixture once the solution is saturated.

The equation for the reaction is:

\text{Na}_2\text{CO}_3(\text{aq}) + 2\text{HNO}_3(\text{aq}) \rightarrow 2\text{NaNO}_3(\text{aq}) + \text{H}_2\text{O}(\text{l}) + \text{CO}_2(\text{g})

A student performs an experiment using the following conditions:

Concentration of sodium carbonate solution = $mol/dm30.400\text{ mol/dm}^3$
Volume of sodium carbonate solution = $cm340\text{ cm}^3$
Volume of water = $cm320\text{ cm}^3$
Volume of nitric acid = $cm340\text{ cm}^3$ (the nitric acid is in excess)

Calculate the mass of carbon dioxide, $CO2\text{CO}_2$ , formed in this experiment. ( $A_r$ : $C=12\text{C} = 12$ , $O=16\text{O} = 16$ )

The solubility of carbon dioxide at room temperature is $g/dm31.6\text{ g/dm}^3$ . Use this information to explain whether any carbon dioxide gas escapes from the flask during the experiment.