You are a NASCAR pit crew member. Your employer is leading the race with 15 laps to go. He just finished a pit stop and has 3.0 gallons of fuel in the tank. On the way out of the pits, he asks, “Am I going to have enough fuel to finish the race or am I going to have to make another pit stop?” You whip out your calculator and begin your calculations based on your knowledge of stoichiometry. Other information you know is:
C5H12 + O2 → CO2 + H2O
The car uses an average of 275.0 grams of O2 for each lap.
The formula for fuel is C5H12
The fuel has a density of 700 g/gal.
What do you tell the driver? Can he finish the race? Will he have fuel left over?