In a chemical engineering process, water vapor (H₂O) is heated to sufficiently high temperature that a significant portion of the water dissociates, or splits apart, to form oxygen (O₂) and hydrogen (H₂):

If it is assumed that this is the only reaction involved, the mole fraction x of H₂O that dissociates can be represented by

Where K = the reaction equilibrium constant and p_t = the total pressure of the mixture. If p_t = 3.5 atm and K = 0.04, determine the value of x that satisfies Eq. (P8.3).

Transcribed Image Text:

Н.О — Н, + }0,