Question

Carbon monoxide reacts with hydrogen under certain conditions to form methanol ( $ {{C}}{{{H}}_{{3}}}{{OH}} $ ). Write a balanced chemical equation for this reaction indicating the physical state of reactants and product as well as the condition under this reaction, take place.

Answer 1

Hint: In the above question, it is asked to write a balanced chemical equation for the synthesis of methanol. The formation of methanol from carbon monoxide and hydrogen is more than $ {{99}}{{.8\% }} $ when pressure is in between 5-10MPa and $ {{250^\circ C}} $ .

Complete step by step solution
In the above equation, we have to write a balanced chemical equation for the synthesis of methanol. The chemical formula of carbon monoxide is CO and its physical state is gas, the chemical formula of hydrogen is $ {{{H}}_{{2}}} $ and its physical state is also gaseous. The chemical formula of methanol is $ {{C}}{{{H}}_{{3}}}{{OH}} $ and its physical state is liquid.
So, let us write a rough chemical reaction as:
 $ {{CO + }}{{{H}}_{{2}}} \to {{C}}{{{H}}_{{3}}}{{OH}} $
We can see that the number of carbon and oxygen atoms are balanced on both sides. But the number of H on the reactant side is 2 whereas the number of H on the product side is 4. And hence, multiplying 2 as the coefficient of $ {{{H}}_{{2}}} $ , we will get a balanced chemical equation.
So, the balanced chemical equation is:
 $ {{CO(g) + 2}}{{{H}}_{{2}}}{{(g)}}\xrightarrow[{{{ZnO + Cr}}{{{O}}_{{3}}}}]{{{{5 - 10MPa,250^\circ C}}}}{{C}}{{{H}}_{{3}}}{{OH(l)}} $
Condition: 5-10MPa and $ {{250^\circ C}} $ , zinc oxide and chromium oxide.
At 5-10MPa and $ {{250^\circ C}} $ , methanol production is more than $ {{99}}{{.8\% }} $ . Zinc oxide and chromium oxide is used as a catalyst to increase the rate of production of methanol.

Note
Methanol is used as antifreeze, solvent, fuel and as a denaturant for ethanol.
Methanol is frequently called wood alcohol because it was once produced primarily as a by-product of destructive distillation of wood.