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http://papers.xtremepapers.com/CIE/Cambridge International A and AS Level/Chemistry (9701)/9701_w04_qp_1.pdf Question 10 can anyone help me please
Here you need to know two concepts/formulas:
mole fraction = number of moles of molecule A / total number of moles
Partial pressure of A = mole fraction of A x total pressure
If 20% of steam had been converted to hydrogen and oxygen, there must be 80% of steam left. So, if you before had 1 mole of steam, you now have 0.8 moles of steam (80% of 1.). Because of the 2:2:1 ratio in the equation, 2H2O ---> 2H2 + O2 , if 0.2 moles of steam had been converted into its products, then by simple stoichiometry the change for H2 is +0.2 and for O2 +0.1.
So you now have the moles of each substance present at equilibrium. If you now use the formulas from the beginning, to calculate the partial pressure, you would see you need the mole fraction of your gas and the total pressure. So, mole fraction = number of moles of molecule A / total number of moles
For steam, you have 0.80 moles, for H2 0.20 and for O2 0.10. If you add them up this give 1.1 - the total number of moles. Therefore, the mole fraction of steam is 0.80/1.1, for H2 is 0.20/1.1 and for O2 is 0.10/1.1. To get the partial pressure of each gas you now times the mole fraction of each substance by the total pressure at which the experiment is done - 1 atm. Hence for steam the partial pressure is 0.8 x 1 / 1.1 and so on...
Hope it helps.