If you have seen the movie Fast and Furious vou know that nitrous oxide is used

Question

If you have seen the movie Fast and Furious vou know that nitrous oxide is used to give an extra boost to fast cars. The mechanism for this power boost is based upon the decomposition of N2O that occurs at high temperatures (such as those in the combustion chamber of a car engine). Note: Use the bond energy table in your text (Table 9.4) to determine the heat of this reaction. use any one of the three resonance structures for N20 that you show in question 1. a) Provide a clear explanation of two factors that account for the power "boost" provided by injecting N2O into the combustion chamber of a car engine. b)

Explanation / Answer

For the given reaction,

2N2O(g) --> 2N2(g) + O2(g)

a) Using bond enthalpies

reaction enthalpy

dHrxn = dH(reactant) - dH(product)

           = (418 + 607) - (2 x 941.4 + 498.7)

           = -1356.5 kJ/mol

b) As can be seen the decomposition of N2O to N2 and O2 is a exothermic reaction with release of -1356.5 kJ/mol of heat. Therefore, injecting N2O gives a power boost to the engine. Also we get more amount of O2 as product which again burns in air to give extra heat for the engine.

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