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What is the surface area of a sample of activated charcoal if the BET plot data at a nitrogen pressure of 0.98 atm gives a monolayer capacity of 0.16 mol/g and the weight of the sample used is 0.25 g? (Assume the density of the charcoal to be 2.2 g/cm³)

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To calculate the surface area of the activated charcoal sample, we will use the BET  Brunauer-Emmett-Teller  equation. The BET equation relates the amount of gas adsorbed on a solid surface to the pressure and the surface area.The BET equation is:n =  n_m * C * P  / [ 1 - P  *  1 +  C - 1  * P ]where:n = amount of gas adsorbed  mol/g n_m = monolayer capacity  mol/g C = BET constantP = relative pressure  P/P0 We are given the monolayer capacity  n_m  as 0.16 mol/g and the nitrogen pressure  P  as 0.98 atm. However, we need to find the relative pressure  P/P0  to use in the BET equation. Since the saturation pressure of nitrogen  P0  at 77 K is approximately 1 atm, we can assume P/P0 = 0.98.Now, we need to find the cross-sectional area of a nitrogen molecule  A_N2 . The cross-sectional area of a nitrogen molecule can be calculated using the following formula:A_N2 =   * d_N2^2  / 4where d_N2 is the diameter of a nitrogen molecule, which is approximately 0.36 nm. Converting to cm, we get:d_N2 = 0.36 * 10^-7  cmNow, we can calculate A_N2:A_N2 =   *  0.36 * 10^-7  cm ^2  / 4  1.02 * 10^-14  cmNow, we can calculate the surface area  S  of the activated charcoal sample using the following formula:S =  n_m * A_N2 * N_A * W  / where:N_A = Avogadro's number  6.022 * 10^23 mol^-1  W = weight of the sample  0.25 g  = density of the charcoal  2.2 g/cm Plugging in the values, we get:S =  0.16 mol/g * 1.02 * 10^-14  cm * 6.022 * 10^23 mol^-1  * 0.25 g  / 2.2 g/cm  882.6 cmTherefore, the surface area of the activated charcoal sample is approximately 882.6 cm.

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