Balance
MgCO3 > CO2 + MgO
Look balanced already to me.
Left side: 1 Mg, 1 C, 3 O
Right side: 1 Mg 1 C, 3 O
The equation you have written is a chemical equation, specifically a thermodynamic equation, that represents the reaction of Magnesium carbonate (MgCO3) decomposing into Carbon dioxide (CO2) and Magnesium oxide (MgO). In order to balance this equation, we need to make sure that there are an equal number of each type of atom on both sides of the equation.
To balance the equation, we'll start by counting the number of each type of atom on both sides.
On the left side, we have one Magnesium (Mg), one Carbon (C), and three Oxygen (O) atoms.
On the right side, we have one Carbon (C) atom, one Magnesium (Mg) atom, and one Oxygen (O) atom.
Since we only have one Magnesium (Mg) atom on each side, we can ignore it for now. Let's focus on balancing the Carbon (C) and Oxygen (O) atoms.
In the reactant (left) side, there is only one Carbon atom, but on the product (right) side, we have one Carbon atom as well. Therefore, the Carbon atoms are already balanced.
Now looking at the Oxygen atoms, on the left side we have three Oxygen atoms, while on the right side we only have one Oxygen atom. This means we need to balance the Oxygen atoms by adding coefficients to the product side of the equation.
To balance the Oxygen atoms, we can add a coefficient of 3 in front of CO2 on the right side of the equation, resulting in:
MgCO3 → 3CO2 + MgO
Now, let's revisit balancing the Magnesium (Mg) atoms. We currently have one Magnesium atom on each side of the equation, so Magnesium is already balanced.
Now the final balanced equation is:
MgCO3 → 3CO2 + MgO
Remember, when balancing equations, you can only change coefficients, not subscripts. Additionally, it is important to note that in a balanced equation, both sides should have the same number of atoms for each element, ensuring that mass is conserved in the chemical reaction.