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Balance the following equation:
Reactants: ; and
Products: ; and
If we add a coefficient of 2 to , then the number of hydrogen atoms in the reactants will be 4, which is the same as for the reactants. The equation will be:
Reactants: ; and
Products: ; and
You will see that, although the number of hydrogen atoms now balances, there are more oxygen atoms in the products. You now need to repeat the previous step. If we put a coefficient of 2 in front of , then we will increase the number of oxygen atoms in the reactants by 2. The new equation is:
When we check the number of atoms again, we find that the number of atoms of each element in the reactants is the same as the number in the products. The equation is now balanced.
Nitrogen gas reacts with hydrogen gas to form ammonia. Write a balanced chemical equation for this reaction.
The reactants are nitrogen ( ) and hydrogen ( ) and the product is ammonia ( ).
The equation is as follows:
Reactants: and
Products: and
In order to balance the number of nitrogen atoms, we could rewrite the equation as:
In the above equation, the nitrogen atoms now balance, but the hydrogen atoms don't (there are 2 hydrogen atoms in the reactants and 6 in the product). If we put a coefficient of 3 in front of the hydrogen ( ), then the hydrogen atoms and the nitrogen atoms balance. The final equation is:
In our bodies, sugar ( ) reacts with the oxygen we breathe in to produce carbon dioxide, water and energy. Write the balanced equation for this reaction.
Reactants: sugar ( ) and oxygen ( )
Products: carbon dioxide ( ) and water ( )
Reactants: ; and
Products: ; and
It is easier to start with carbon as it only appears once on each side. If we add a 6 in front of , the equation looks like this:
Reactants: ; and
Products: ; and
Let's try to get the number of hydrogens the same this time.
Reactants: ; and
Products: ; and
Reactants: ; and
Products: ; and
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