Chemistry 579 February 10

th
, 2012
- 1 -
Name: __________________________________


Student Number: __________________________




Department of Chemistry
Faculty of Science
University of Calgary

CHEM 579 Midterm I

February 10, 2012

- This exam contains a total of 8 pages, including this title page, 7 pages of
questions, and 1 page of information (not necessarily all useful). You may detach
the last page if you wish.

- Attempt all questions. Show reasoning where appropriate and be sure to provide
clear labelling.

- This is a closed book examination. The only aids allowed are writing implements
and calculators (individuals with programmable calculators will need to
demonstrate that their memories are clear). No other papers or aids are permitted.

- There are a total of 50 marks (individual question values are given in
parentheses); you will have 50 minutes.

- GOOD LUCK!











Chemistry 579 February 10
th
, 2012
- 2 -
I. Short Answer Questions


1 a) On the following picture of a crystallite (cubic) colloid
particle, label the (100), (100) or the (111) face.
(2 marks)

b) Which face would you expect to have a higher affinity for
chemisorption and why? (2 marks)










2) What are two reasons for obtaining
ads
H
diff
, i.e., what types of information do we
obtain beyond a single isotherm? (2 marks)









3) When we considered drying a high-pressure CO
2
stream, we discovered that Silica
Gel would adsorb water to a capacity of 7.4 mol kg
-1
during a full adsorption cycle.
Consider an adsorption bed which receives 200,000 m
3
d
-1
of gas (p
H2O
= 3.2 kPa) at
1000 kPa total pressure for 12 hours. If the average gaseous water at the outlet of the bed
is p
H2O
= 0.3 kPa, how much adsorbent will we require? [0.0224 m
3
= 1 mol]
(4 marks)









Chemistry 579 February 10
th
, 2012
- 3 -
4) Using a potential energy diagram (or two), show how the reaction rate for
(A + B C) would be increased, due to the adsorption of gaseous reactants on to a solid
surface (please label). (4 marks)


























5) What are two reasons why measuring the Langmuir isotherm for an adsorbent would
be a poor way to define A
sp
? (3 marks)






Chemistry 579 February 10
th
, 2012
- 4 -
II. Long Answer Questions

6 a) Calculate the number of particles and the specific surface area for 1 gram of
material dispersed as octahedrons with V
oct
= 210
-17
m
3

((material) = 1.780 g cm
-3
).
(6 marks)

















b) Calculate the number of particles and the specific surface area for 1 gram of
material dispersed as spheres with V
sph
= 210
-17
m
3
((material) = 1.780 g cm
-3
).
(6 marks)

















c) In comparing the answers to (a) and (b), are they what you expected and why?
(2 marks)

Chemistry 579 February 10
th
, 2012
- 5 -


7. Methane is often found adsorbed onto the surface of coal. Consider the reversible,
nondissociative adsorption of CO
2
and CH
4
on coal. The equilibrium adsorption
constants are K
ads,CO2
= 0.0004 kPa
-1
and K
ads,CH4
= 0.0002 kPa
-1
. (assume these
adsorptions obey the Langmiur assumptions) (6 marks)
a) Calculate the fraction of surface covered for
i. pure CH
4
(p
CH4
= 1500 kPa)
ii. pure CO
2
(p
CO2
= 1500 kPa) and
iii. a 50:50 CO
2
/CH
4
mixture (p
Total
= 3000 kPa) [calc. for each species].




































Chemistry 579 February 10
th
, 2012
- 6 -


b) Which is more strongly bound to the coal surface, CO
2
or CH
4
? (2 marks)







c) If a coal bed originally contains p
CH4
= 1500 kPa and we inject an additional
1500 kPa of CO
2
, what is the fraction of methane released from surface of the
coal?
(2 marks)












d) Do you expect the temperature of this coal bed to increase or decrease? Why?
(2 marks)


















Chemistry 579 February 10
th
, 2012
- 7 -


8. a) Provide two reasons why highly porous materials are useful in chemical
processing? (2 marks)













b) For Zeolite 4A and Zeolite 3A, M = Na
+
and K
+
. Given the general chemical
formula for a zeolite of M

(AlO
2
)
x
(SiO
2
)
y
zH
2
O, why does = x for Zeolites 4A
and 3A? (2 marks)














c) Provide two examples of where zeolites are used in industry? (2 marks)
Chemistry 579 February 10
th
, 2012
- 8 -
Chemistry 579 exam I
information sheet (equations and constants)

3
3
4
r V
s
t =
2
4 r A
s
t =
B B A A
A A
A
p K p K
p K
+ +
=
1
u
2
1
2
|
.
|

\
|
=
}

a
dx e
ax
t

a
dx xe
ax
2
1
0
2
=
}

2
0
3
2
1
2
a
dx e x
ax
=
}

...
! 4 ! 2
1
2
) cosh(
4 2
+ + + =
+
=

x x e e
x
x x
...
! 5 ! 3
1
2
) sinh(
5 3
+ + + =

=

x x e e
x
x x

...
! 3 ! 2
1
3 2
+ + + + =
x x
x e
x

2
3a A
n tetrahedro
=
3
12
2
a V
n tetrahedro
=
2
3 2 a A
octahedron
=
3
3
2
a V
octahedron
=
2
11
11
12 r
A
t
= u
(

|
|
.
|

\
|
+ +

= u
2
2
2
2
2 2
2
11
11
4
1 ln
2
4
2
6 r
a
r
a
a r
a A

T k
mgh
o
B
e
n
n

=
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
t
m
a
app
e
a
F
v
tq
tq
6
1
6

mg F
Gravity
=
2
e mR F
l Centrifuga
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
= = =
|
o

e
1
2
f
m
R
v
g
v
s
t t


o r
c c

= u V
2

2
212
2
12
64
r
A e kTn
d
o
net
t k
k

I
= u

=
T k
e z
i
B
i
e
n
n
,

(

I
I +
= u

x
o
x
o
e
e
ze
kT
k
k
1
1
ln
2

|
.
|

\
| u
= I
kT
ze
o
o
4
tanh
) ( a r o
e
r
a

u
= u
k

|
|
.
|

\
|
+ = A = A
2 1
1 1
R R
hg p
q

|
v
= Re
s l s l s l s l ll
2 2 1 1
cos cos cos u u u =

1 tsp = 4.929 cm
3
1 acre = 4047 m
2
1 rpm = 2/60 1 year = 365 days

Constants Atomic masses
Plancks Constant: h = 6.6260610
-34
J s Hydrogen, 1.0079 g mol
-1

= 1.0545710
-34
J s Carbon, 12.011 g mol
-1

Speed of light: c = 2.997910
8
m s
-1
Nitrogen, 14.007 g mol
-1

Avogadros Constant: N
A
= 6.02210
23
mol
-1
Fluorine, 18.998 g mol
-1

Electron rest mass: m
e
= 9.1110
-31
kg Chlorine, 35.453 g mol
-1

Bugatti Veyron mass: m
BV
= 1888 kg Iron, 55.847 g mol
-1

Golfball mass: m
Gb
= 45.93 g Bromine, 79.904 g mol
-1
Boltzmanns constant: k
B
= 1.38110
-23
J K
-1
Oxygen, 15.9994 g mol
-1

Gravitational acceleration constant: g = 9.807 m s
-2