The industrial production of sulfuric acid can be described as a four-stage process beginning with the burning of raw sulfur with oxygen - VCE - SSCE Chemistry - Question 5 - 2004 - Paper 1
Question 5
The industrial production of sulfuric acid can be described as a four-stage process beginning with the burning of raw sulfur with oxygen.
a. Stage 1 The burning of ... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:The industrial production of sulfuric acid can be described as a four-stage process beginning with the burning of raw sulfur with oxygen - VCE - SSCE Chemistry - Question 5 - 2004 - Paper 1
Step 1
Stage 1 The burning of sulfur
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Answer
The combustion of sulfur in oxygen can be represented by the following chemical equation:
S(s)+O2(g)→SO2(g)
In this reaction, solid sulfur reacts with gaseous oxygen to produce sulfur dioxide.
Step 2
Stage 2 The oxidation of sulfur from the +4 to the +6 oxidation state
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Answer
i. The equation for this reaction involves the further oxidation of sulfur dioxide to sulfur trioxide:
2SO2(g)+O2(g)→2SO3(g)
ii. If the temperature in this stage is too high, the yield of sulfur trioxide will decrease. This occurs because the forward reaction is exothermic, meaning that raising the temperature will favor the reverse reaction, thus reducing the production of sulfur trioxide.
