Lavoisier tin calcination

Antoine Lavoisier was one of the first researchers to apply quantitative methods to chemistry. He gained information about chemical transformations by carefully weighing all materials before and after reaction. This exercise examines some data he collected on the calcination of tin (a reaction we would call the oxidation of tin).

He put a quantity of tin into a vessel, sealed it, heated it, and opened it to examine the contents, weighing the whole apparatus at various points along the way. The mass of tin before the reaction was 8 onces even. The mass of the air sealed in the vessel with the tin was 15 1/3 grains. After the reaction, the mass of the solids in the vessel (tin plus a black powder) was 3.12 grains more than the mass of the original tin; the mass of the gas within the sealed vessel was 3.12 grains less than the mass of the original air.

a) Using the following conversion factors, express the initial masses of solid and gas and their change in mass in gram units.

1 once = 576 grains exactly
1 grain = 0.0531 grams
b) Lavoisier did not know it yet, but the reaction was
Sn(s) + O2(g) -- > SnO2(s) .
Which reactant was the limiting reagent? (Yes, it is pretty obvious, but express the reactant quantities in moles.)

c) What was the mass of SnO2 formed?

d) What was the gas left over at the end?

Reference

Antoine Lavoisier, "Memoir on the calcination of tin in closed vessels and on the cause of the gain in weight which this metal acquires in the operation," Mémoires de l'Académie Royale des Sciences for 1774, 351-67 (published in 1777).
Copyright 2003 by Carmen Giunta. Permission is granted to reproduce for non-commercial educational purposes.

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