An engineer is designing a reactor that will be filled with oxygen under high pressure. The volume of the reactor is 253 L, the maximum temperature inside the reactor will be 250ºC, and the pressure inside the reactor must not exceed 150 atm. The engineer uses the ideal gas law to calculate the maximum number of moles of oxygen that can be put into the reactor without exceeding 150 atm.
a) What number of moles does the engineer calculate using the ideal gas law?
b) Now use the van der Waals equation to calculate a more accurate value for the pressure inside the reactor at 250ºC, using the number of moles you obtained in part a. Will the reactor be at risk of failure, based on your answer?