Why was the Mars Climate Orbiter destroyed?

The mars climate orbiter destroyed when a navigation error caused it to miss its target altitude at mars by 80 to 90km, instead entering the martian atmosphere at an altitude of 57km during the orbit insertion maneuver.

The correct answer is 1.21 L.

Explanation:

Based on the given information, the reaction will be,

CS2 (l) + 3Cl2 (g) ⇒ CCl4 (l) + S2Cl2 (l)

By using the standard values of the substances, the standard enthalpy of the reaction is,

ΔH° = [(-139.5) + (-58.5) – 0 – (87.3)] kJ/mol

= -285.3 kJ/mol

The amount of heat evolved for 3 moles of chlorine reacted us 285.3 kJ.

Now the number of moles of chlorine needed to react to produce 5.00 kJ is,

= 5.00 kJ × 3 mol Cl2/285.3 kJ

= 0.0526 mol Cl2

Now the volume of chlorine gas at 27degree C and 812 mmHg will be,

Volume = 0.0526 mol Cl2 × 0.0821 Latm/mol K × 300 K/ 1.07 atm

= 1.21 L