A 5.00 L tank contains carbon monoxide (CO) gas at a temperature of 155 °C and a pressure of 2.80 atm. Using the ideal gas law, how many moles of CO are present in the tank?

• A. 0.46 mol
• B. 0.62 mol
• C. 0.54 mol
• D. 0.37 mol

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Identify the known variables from the problem: volume \(V = 5.00\ \text{L}\), temperature \(T = 155\ ^\circ\text{C}\), and pressure \(P = 2.80\ \text{atm}\).
2. Convert the temperature from Celsius to Kelvin using the formula \(T(K) = T(^\circ C) + 273.15\). This is necessary because the ideal gas law requires temperature in Kelvin.
3. Recall the ideal gas law equation: \(P \times V = n \times R \times T\), where \(n\) is the number of moles, and \(R\) is the ideal gas constant.
4. Rearrange the ideal gas law to solve for the number of moles \(n\): \(n = \frac{P \times V}{R \times T}\).
5. Substitute the known values into the equation, using \(R = 0.0821\ \text{L} \cdot \text{atm} / \text{mol} \cdot \text{K}\), and calculate \(n\) to find the number of moles of CO gas in the tank.