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Chapter 22: Problem 138

When acrylic polymers are burned, toxic fumes are produced. For example, in many airplane fires, more passenger deaths have been caused by breathing toxic fumes than by the fire itself. Using polyacrylonitrile as an example, what would you expect to be one of the most toxic, gaseous combustion products created in the reaction?

Short Answer

Expert verified
When polyacrylonitrile (PAN) undergoes combustion, one of the most toxic gaseous products formed is hydrogen cyanide (HCN). HCN is a highly poisonous compound that can be lethal when inhaled, absorbed through the skin, or ingested, making it especially hazardous during fires involving acrylic polymers.

Step by step solution

01

Examine polyacrylonitrile's chemical structure

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) is a polymer made up of repeating units of acrylonitrile, whose chemical formula is C₃H₃N. Its structure contains a nitrile group (-C≡N) and a vinyl group (-CH=CH₂).
02

Predict the products of combustion

Combustion is a reaction with oxygen (O₂). When a substance, in this case, polyacrylonitrile, undergoes combustion, it typically forms products such as water (H₂O) and carbon dioxide (CO₂). Additionally, due to the presence of the nitrile group, it can also form hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and nitrogen gas (N₂), among other products.
03

Identify toxic combustion products

From the predicted products listed in Step 2, we can notice that hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is the most toxic gaseous product. HCN is a highly poisonous compound that can be lethal when inhaled, absorbed through the skin, or ingested. As a result, it is crucial to consider the dangers of HCN exposure during fires involving the combustion of acrylic polymers, such as polyacrylonitrile.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Ethylene oxide is an important industrial chemical. Although most ethers are unreactive, ethylene oxide is quite reactive. It resembles $\mathrm{C}_{2} \mathrm{H}_{4}$ in its reactions in that addition reactions occur across the \(\mathrm{C}-\mathrm{O}\) bond in ethylene oxide. a. Why is ethylene oxide so reactive? (Hint: Consider the bond angles in ethylene oxide as compared with those predicted by the VSEPR model.) b. Ethylene oxide undergoes addition polymerization, forming a polymer used in many applications requiring a nonionic surfactant. Draw the structure of this polymer.

Consider a sample of a hydrocarbon at 0.959 atm and 298 K. Upon combusting the entire sample in oxygen, you collect a mixture of gaseous carbon dioxide and water vapor at 1.51 atm and 375 K. This mixture has a density of 1.391 g/L and occupies a volume four times as large as that of the pure hydrocarbon. Determine the molecular formula of the hydrocarbon and name it.

For each of the following, fill in the blank with the correct response. All of these fill-in-the-blank problems pertain to material covered in the sections on alkanes, alkenes and alkynes, aromatic hydrocarbons, and hydrocarbon derivatives. a. The first “organic” compound to be synthesized in the laboratory, rather than being isolated from nature, was , which was prepared from . b. An organic compound whose carbon–carbon bonds are all single bonds is said to be . c. The general orientation of the four pairs of electrons around the carbon atoms in alkanes is . d. Alkanes in which the carbon atoms form a single unbranched chain are said to be alkanes. e. Structural isomerism occurs when two molecules have the same number of each type of atom but exhibit different arrangements of the between those atoms. f. The systematic names of all saturated hydrocarbons have the ending added to a root name that indicates the number of carbon atoms in the molecule. g. For a branched hydrocarbon, the root name for the hydrocarbon comes from the number of carbon atoms in the continuous chain in the molecule. h. The positions of substituents along the hydrocarbon framework of a molecule are indicated by the of the carbon atom to which the substituents are attached. i. The major use of alkanes has been in reactions, as a source of heat and light. j. With very reactive agents, such as the halogen elements, alkanes undergo reactions, whereby a new atom replaces one or more hydrogen atoms of the alkane. k. Alkenes and alkynes are characterized by their ability to undergo rapid, complete reactions, by which other atoms attach themselves to the carbon atoms of the double or triple bond. l. Unsaturated fats may be converted to saturated fats by the process of . m. Benzene is the parent member of the group of hydrocarbons called hydrocarbons. n. An atom or group of atoms that imparts new and characteristic properties to an organic molecule is called a group. o. A alcohol is one in which there is only one hydrocarbon group attached to the carbon atom holding the hydroxyl group. p. The simplest alcohol, methanol, is prepared industrially by the hydrogenation of . q. Ethanol is commonly prepared by the of certain sugars by yeast. r. Both aldehydes and ketones contain the group, but they differ in where this group occurs along the hydrocarbon chain. s. Aldehydes and ketones can be prepared by of the corresponding alcohol. t. Organic acids, which contain the group, are typically weak acids. u. The typically sweet-smelling compounds called result from the condensation reaction of an organic acid with an .

Cis-trans isomerism is also possible in molecules with rings. Draw the cis and trans isomers of \(1,2\) -dimethylcyclohexane. In Exercise \(43,\) you drew all of the noncyclic structural and geometrical isomers of $\mathrm{C}_{4} \mathrm{H}_{7} \mathrm{F}$ . Now draw the cyclic structural and geometrical isomers of \(\mathrm{C}_{4} \mathrm{H}_{7} \mathrm{F}\) .

For each of the following, fill in the blank with the correct response(s). All of the following pertain to nucleic acids. a. The substance in the nucleus of the cell that stores and transmits genetic information is DNA, which stands for. b. The basic repeating monomer units of DNA and RNA are called . c. The pentose deoxyribose is found in DNA, whereas is found in RNA. d. The basic linkage in DNA or RNA between the sugar molecule and phosphoric acid is a phosphate linkage. e. The bases on opposite strands of DNA are said to be to each other, which means the bases fit together specifically by hydrogen bonding to one another. f. In a strand of normal DNA, the base is always found paired with the base adenine, whereas is always found paired with cytosine. g. A given segment of the DNA molecule, which contains the molecular coding for a specific protein to be synthesized, is referred to as a . h. During protein synthesis, RNA molecules attach to and transport specific amino acids to the appropriate position on the pattern provided by RNA molecules. i. The codes specified by are responsible for assembling the correct primary structure of proteins.
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