Question

Gay Lussac’s Law of combining volumes is applicable to the combustion of carbon.
A. True
B. False

Answer 1

Gay Lussac’s Law of combining volumes states that, when gases react, they do so in volumes that bear simple whole number ratios to each other, and to the volume of the products formed, if gaseous at similar conditions of temperature and pressure.

Complete step by step answer:
Consider the reaction for the combustion of carbon.
${\text{C}}\left( {\text{g}} \right){\text{ + }}{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}}}\left( {\text{g}} \right) \to {\text{C}}{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}}}\left( {\text{g}} \right)$
For the Gay Lussac’s Law of combining volumes to be valid, the reactants and products have to be gases. Ignoring the difference in molar mass of carbon and oxygen, we have oxygen which combines with one volume or mole of carbon to give one volume or mole of carbon dioxide.
Hence the ratio that oxygen bears with carbon dioxide is (1 : 1).
Hence it can be concluded that, Gay Lussac’s Law of combining volumes is applicable to the combustion of carbon and the statement is right.

Thus, the correct answer is option A.

Note:
Gay Lussac’s Law of combining volumes is applicable under similar conditions of temperature and pressure.
In case of the presence of any solid or liquid reactant in the medium along with the gaseous reactant and products, their volume is ignored.
The simple ratio in between the reactant and the product gases is given by the stoichiometric ratio in the balanced chemical equation.
Among the five laws of stoichiometry, the Gay Lussac’s Law of combining volumes is the only one that is dependent of temperature and pressure.