example of question of balancing chemical equation
Answers
Answer:
CO2 + H2O → C6H12O6 + O2
Blancing the above chemical Equation:
CO2 + H2O → C6H12O6 + O2
The first step is to focus on elements that only appear once on each side of the equation. Here, both carbon and hydrogen fit this requirement. So, we will start with carbon. There is only one atom of carbon on the left hand side, but six on the right hand side. So, we add a coefficient of six on the carbon-containing molecule on the left.
6CO2 + H2O → C6H12O6 + O2
Next, let’s look at hydrogen. There are two hydrogen atoms on the left and twelve on the right. So, we will add a coefficient of six on the hydrogen-containing molecule on the left.
6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6 + O2
Now, it is time to check the oxygen. There are a total of 18 oxygen molecules on the left (6×2 + 6×1). On the right, there are eight oxygen molecules. Now, we have two options to even out the right hand side: We can either multiply C6H12O6 or O2 by a coefficient. However, if we change C6H12O6, the coefficients for everything else on the left hand side will also have to change, because we will be changing the number of carbon and hydrogen atoms. To prevent this, it usually helps to only change the molecule containing the fewest elements; in this case, the O2. So, we can add a coefficient of six to the O2 on the right. Our final answer will be:
6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6 + 6O2
Answer:
SiCl4 + H2O → H4SiO4 + HCl
Blancing the equation:
SiCl4 + H2O → H4SiO4 + HCl
The only element that occurs more than once on the same side of the equation here is hydrogen, so we can start with any other element. Let’s start by looking at silicon. Notice that there is only one atom of silicon on either side, so we do not need to add any coefficients yet. Next, let’s look at chlorine. There are four chlorine atoms on the left side and only one on the right. So, we will add a coefficient of four on the right.
SiCl4 + H2O → H4SiO4 + 4HCl
Next, let’s look at oxygen. Remember that we first want to analyze all the elements that only occur once on one side of the equation. There is only one oxygen atom on the left, but four on the right. So, we will add a coefficient of four on the left hand side of the equation.
SiCl4 + 4H2O → H4SiO4 + 4HCl
We are almost done! Now, we just have to check the number of hydrogen atoms on each side. The left has eight and the right also has eight, so we are done. Our final answer is
SiCl4 + 4H2O → H4SiO4 + 4HCl
As always, make sure to double check that the number of atoms of each element balances on each side before continuing.