Why is a solution of potassium hydroxide used to absorb carbon dioxide evoled during the estimation of carbon present in an organic compound?

Explanation

`CO_(2)` is an acidic oxide. Thus, it reacts with the strong base KOH to from `K_(2)CO_(3)` (salt). `2KOH+CO_(2)-K_(2)CO_(3)+H_(2)O` so, during estimation of carbon, increase in mass of U - tube containing KOH solution gives the mass of `CO_(2)` produced from the organic compound. Thus % of carbon in the organic compound can be estimated by using the equation:
`% "of carbon"=(12)/(44)xx("Mass of CO_(2)formed")/("Mass of organic compound")xx100`