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State symbols and other information

The state (phase) of the compounds can be expressed in the chemical equation. This is done by placing the correct label on the right hand side of the formula. There are only four labels that can be used:

  1. (g) for gaseous compounds
  2. (l) for liquids
  3. (s) for solid compounds
  4. (aq) for an aqueous (water) solution

To show that heat is needed for a reaction, a Greek delta ( Δ ) is placed above the arrow.

You may remember from Physical and chemical change that energy cannot be created or destroyed during a chemical reaction but it may change form. In an exothermic reaction, Δ H is less than zero and in an endothermic reaction, Δ H is greater than zero. This value is often written at the end of a chemical equation.

Solid zinc metal reacts with aqueous hydrochloric acid to form an aqueous solution of zinc chloride ( ZnCl 2 )and hydrogen gas. Write a balanced equation for this reaction.

  1. The reactants are zinc ( Zn ) and hydrochloric acid ( HCl ). The products are zinc chloride ( ZnCl 2 ) and hydrogen ( H 2 ).

  2. Zn + HCl ZnCl 2 + H 2
  3. You will notice that the zinc atoms balance but the chlorine and hydrogen atoms don't. Since there are two chlorine atoms on the right and only one on the left, we will give HCl a coefficient of 2 so that there will be two chlorine atoms on each side of the equation.

    Zn + 2 HCl ZnCl 2 + H 2

  4. When you look at the equation again, you will see that all the atoms are now balanced.

  5. In the initial description, you were told that zinc was a metal, hydrochloric acid and zinc chloride were in aqueous solutions and hydrogen was a gas.

    Zn ( s ) + 2 HCl ( aq ) ZnCl 2 ( aq ) + H 2 ( g )

Balance the following equation:

( NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 + NaOH NH 3 + H 2 O + Na 2 SO 4

In this example, the first two steps are not necessary because the reactants and products have already been given.

  1. With a complex equation, it is always best to start with atoms that appear only once on each side i.e. Na , N and S atoms. Since the S atoms already balance, we will start with Na and N atoms. There are two Na atoms on the right and one on the left. We will add a second Na atom by giving NaOH a coefficient of two. There are two N atoms on the left and one on the right. To balance the N atoms, NH 3 will be given a coefficient of two. The equation now looks as follows:

    ( NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 + 2 NaOH 2 NH 3 + H 2 O + Na 2 SO 4

  2. N , Na and S atoms balance, but O and H atoms do not. There are six O atoms and ten H atoms on the left, and five O atoms and eight H atoms on the right. We need to add one O atom and two H atoms on the right to balance the equation. This is done by adding another H 2 O molecule on the right hand side. We now need to check the equation again:

    ( NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 + 2 NaOH 2 NH 3 + 2 H 2 O + Na 2 SO 4

    The equation is now balanced.

The following video explains some of the concepts of balancing chemical equations.

Khan academy video on balancing chemical equations

Questions & Answers

what is microbiology
Agebe Reply
What is a cell
Odelana Reply
what is cell
Mohammed
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Nyibol Reply
what is microbiologist
Muhammad Reply
what is errata
Muhammad
is the branch of biology that deals with the study of microorganisms.
Ntefuni Reply
What is microbiology
Mercy Reply
studies of microbes
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How bacteria create energy to survive?
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Bacteria doesn't produce energy they are dependent upon their substrate in case of lack of nutrients they are able to make spores which helps them to sustain in harsh environments
_Adnan
But not all bacteria make spores, l mean Eukaryotic cells have Mitochondria which acts as powerhouse for them, since bacteria don't have it, what is the substitution for it?
Muhamad
they make spores
Louisiaste
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the significance of food webs for disease transmission
Abreham
food webs brings about an infection as an individual depends on number of diseased foods or carriers dully.
Mark
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Esinniobiwa Reply
Assimilatory nitrate reduction is a process that occurs in some microorganisms, such as bacteria and archaea, in which nitrate (NO3-) is reduced to nitrite (NO2-), and then further reduced to ammonia (NH3).
Elkana
This process is called assimilatory nitrate reduction because the nitrogen that is produced is incorporated in the cells of microorganisms where it can be used in the synthesis of amino acids and other nitrogen products
Elkana
Examples of thermophilic organisms
Shu Reply
Give Examples of thermophilic organisms
Shu
advantages of normal Flora to the host
Micheal Reply
Prevent foreign microbes to the host
Abubakar
they provide healthier benefits to their hosts
ayesha
They are friends to host only when Host immune system is strong and become enemies when the host immune system is weakened . very bad relationship!
Mark
what is cell
faisal Reply
cell is the smallest unit of life
Fauziya
cell is the smallest unit of life
Akanni
ok
Innocent
cell is the structural and functional unit of life
Hasan
is the fundamental units of Life
Musa
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Micheal Reply
There are nothing like emergency disease but there are some common medical emergency which can occur simultaneously like Bleeding,heart attack,Breathing difficulties,severe pain heart stock.Hope you will get my point .Have a nice day ❣️
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Innocent
I think infection prevention and control is the avoidance of all things we do that gives out break of infections and promotion of health practices that promote life
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ESTHER Reply
Many sites of the body have it Skin Nasal cavity Oral cavity Gastro intestinal tract
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skin
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all
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what are the ways of control and prevention of nosocomial infection in the hospital
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Source:  OpenStax, Siyavula textbooks: grade 10 physical science [caps]. OpenStax CNX. Sep 30, 2011 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11305/1.7
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