Answer: Nitroglycerin, one of the most commonly used

Chapter 9, Problem 9.138

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Nitroglycerin, one of the most commonly used explosives, has the following structure CH2ONO2 CHONO2 CH2ONO2 The decomposition reaction is 4C3H5N3O9(l) 12CO2(g) 1 10H2O(g) 1 6N2(g) 1 O2(g) The explosive action is the result of the heat released and the large increase in gaseous volume. (a) Calculate the H for the decomposition of one mole of nitroglycerin using both standard enthalpy of formation values and bond enthalpies. Assume that the two O atoms in the NO2 groups are attached to N with one single bond and one double bond. (b) Calculate the combined volume of the gases at STP. (c) Assuming an initial explosion temperature of 3000 K, estimate the pressure exerted by the gases using the result from (b). (The standard enthalpy of formation of nitroglycerin is 2371.1 kJ/mol.)