Question

how does a reaction between iron and steam different from the reaction of steam with some other matter​

Answer 1

What type of a reaction is it?

I would describe it first and foremost as a redox reaction. Iron is oxidised and hydrogen is reduced; the half equations would be:

2Fe⟶Fe2++Fe3++5e−

H2O+2e−⟶H2+O2−

Why have we combined FeO and Fe2O3 resulting in the formation of Fe3O4?

This is a good observation. Fe3O4 contains both iron(II) and iron(III) ions and is sometimes written as FeO ⋅Fe2O3. The dot in the middle signifies that there is some form of bonding between the two compounds (another common example of this is water of crystallisation). Fe3O4 is a compound and not a mixture because it does not consist of two separate FeO and Fe2O3 phases but rather it is a single crystal structure containing Fe2+, Fe3+ and O2− ions.

Fe3O4 has a cubic inverse spinel structure which consists of a cubic close packed array of oxide ions where all of the Fe2+ ions occupy half of the octahedral sites and the Fe3+ are split evenly across the remaining octahedral sites and the tetrahedral sites.

Answer 2

Answer:

Iron reacts with steam to form hydrogen gas and the oxide Fe3O4.

The reaction can take place only when the iron used is red-hot and the condition of the state of the matter of water has to be in gaseous ...