The diagram shows a very hot car-engine cylinder in which two gases from the air react together to form an acidic pollutant. Which equation shows how this p...
Question 1 Report
The diagram shows a very hot car-engine cylinder in which two gases from the air react together to form an acidic pollutant. Which equation shows how this pollutant first forms?
Answer Details
The diagram labels the gases inside the cylinder as nitrogen and oxygen from the air, at high temperature. That heat provides enough energy to break the very strong triple bond in N2, so the two gases combine: N2 + O2 → 2NO. Nitrogen monoxide is the pollutant formed first, and it is oxidised later in the exhaust to nitrogen dioxide, which dissolves in rain water to give nitric acid.
Making ammonia requires hydrogen, which is not among the gases shown. The equations giving N2O or NO2 may balance, but neither is the first product of nitrogen and oxygen combining. Check which reactants the diagram actually supplies before choosing an equation.
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