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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 1998  > August  >
In the Classroom
Experimentally Determining the Molar Mass of Carbon Dioxide Using a Mylar Balloon
Barbara Albers Jackson and David J. Crouse
Department of Chemistry, Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, TN 38505

Cover
August 1998
Vol. 75 No. 8
p. 997

Abstract
The molar mass of carbon dioxide was experimentally determined using a Mylar balloon. Mylar balloons are lightweight, have a fixed definite volume, and require minimal additional pressure for inflation. Using the Ideal Gas Equation, the number of moles of air in the balloon was calculated. The molar mass of air was calculated using the percentages of the individual gases. Having these two values, the mass of air in the balloon, also known as the buoyant force of air, was calculated. The balloon was filled with carbon dioxide and the observed mass of the carbon dioxide was added to the mass of the displaced air for the true mass of carbon dioxide. Having the number of moles the balloon holds and the mass of carbon dioxide, the molar mass of carbon dioxide was calculated.
More Information
*  Citation
Jackson, Barbara Albers; Crouse, David J. J. Chem. Educ. 1998 75 997.
*  Keywords
Laboratory, Demonstrations, Gases, Analytical Chemistry
*  History
Created:
Last Updated:
June 22, 1999
June 24, 2005
  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 1998 > August > Page 997


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