Answers and Explanations
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1 . D
In order to answer this question, the equation must first be balanced. Starting with carbon, it
can be seen that there are six carbons on the reactant side and only one on the product side,
so a coefficient of six should be placed in front of the carbon dioxide. For the hydrogen, there
are 12 atoms on the left and only two on the right; thus, a coefficient of six should go in front
of water. Now, for oxygen, there are eight atoms on the left and 18 on the right. In order to
balance the oxygen, ten more atoms of oxygen must be added to the left side. The best way to
do this is to put a coefficient of six in front of oxygen, since putting a stoichiometric coefficient
in front of the glucose molecule would unbalance the equation in terms of carbon and
hydrogen. Therefore, the final balanced equation is:
C 6 H 12 O 6 + 6O 2 → 6CO 2 + 6H 2 O
Adding up the coefficients, the result is (1 + 6 + 6 + 6) = 19.
2 . C 10 H 14 N 2 , 74.1% C, 8.6% H, 17.3% N
To determine the molecular formula of nicotine, the empirical weight of the compound must
be calculated.
The empirical weight (81 g/mol) is then divided into the molecular weight (162 g/mol) to
determine the number by which each subscript in the empirical formula must be multiplied to
obtain the molecular formula.