Ifyoudontlikehavingoneandahalfoxygenmoleculesyoucanthinkoftw...

(Ifyoudon’tlikehavingone­and­a­halfoxygenmolecules,youcanthinkoftwohydrocarbonsplusthree
oxygensmakingtwocarbondioxidesandtwowaters;itisthesamething,really.)
In burning, each carbon atom, C, in gasoline eliminates two hydrogens and replaces them with two oxygens
each carbon atom weighs 12 atomic mass units
each hydrogen weighs 1
each oxygen weighs 16;
So, CH2 starts out weighing 14 (12 from carbon and 2 from hydrogen), and CO2 ends up weighing 44 (12
from carbon and 32 from oxygen)—the weight has more than tripled.
Rounding that off a little,
thetotalweightofCO2putoutbyatypicalU.S.driveristhreetimeslargerthanthe
weightofgasolineburned.
To get the number of pounds of CO2 per year from a typical car, then, multiply your answer from the previous
question by 3.
A) 216,000 pounds / year
B) 1,080 pounds / year
C) 108,000 pounds / year
D) 10,800 pounds / year
4.
Total Pounds (or Tons) of CO
2
Produced by U.S. Drivers per Year Calculation:
Imagine for a moment that the CO
2
behaved like horse ploppies, making a pile in the road, rather than wafting
away in the atmosphere.
How much would we have?
Here are your necessary facts:
There are roughly 140,000,000 cars in the country
Each car averages 12,000 miles per year
Each car is producing @ 1 pound of CO
2
per car per mile
How many pounds of CO
2
are produced each year by U.S. drivers?
To get this number, simply multiply the 3 variables above for this answer. This is a big number ­ one that
cheaper calculators won't be able to handle. In this case, you'll want to come up with the number of tons
instead of the number of pounds of CO
2
. (2000 lbs = 1 ton).
The formulas will look like this;
Points Earned: 2.0/2.0
Correct Answer(s): D

11/8/2016 Exercise #6: Fossil Fuels (& Driving Hazards)
3/4
Total Pounds of CO
2
produced in a year by U.S. drivers: # of cars X # of miles per car X pounds of CO
2
per
mile
Total Tons of CO
2
produced in a year by U.S. drivers:(# of cars / 2000) X # of miles per car X pounds of CO
2
per mile