Consider the following chemical reaction. Molecular hydrogen and carbon dioxide react to form water and methane.

H2+CO2-->H2O+CH4

A)Explain why this equation is not balanced and what law of nature does it break in its current form?

B) Astronauts from the Earth carry large tanks of liquid hydrogen to Mars. During their 2 year stay on the red planet, how can they benefit from the above reaction? (PS:Martian atmosphere contains 96% carbon dioxide).

Please Help me I can't get the answer

Not balanced because there isn't an equal amount of elements on either side of the equation (2 H on one side and 6 on the other etc.) It breaks the conservation of mass law.

they would benefit because when hydrogen reacts with carbon dioxide it makes water, so the astronauts would have water.

A) The given equation, H2 + CO2 → H2O + CH4, is not balanced because the number of atoms on both sides of the reaction is unequal. In this case, the equation violates the law of conservation of mass, which states that matter cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical reaction. In a balanced equation, the number and types of atoms should be the same on both sides.

To balance the equation, we need to ensure that the number of atoms of each element is equal on both sides. Let's start with counting the atoms.

On the left side (reactants):
- Hydrogen: 2 atoms
- Carbon: 1 atom
- Oxygen: 2 atoms

On the right side (products):
- Hydrogen: 4 atoms
- Carbon: 1 atom
- Oxygen: 1 atom

To balance the equation, we can adjust the coefficients (the numbers in front of each compound) to achieve equal numbers of atoms. In this case, we need to balance the hydrogen and oxygen atoms.

Balanced equation: 2H2 + CO2 → 2H2O + CH4

Now, both sides of the equation have an equal number of atoms for each element: 4 hydrogen atoms, 1 carbon atom, and 2 oxygen atoms.

B) During their stay on Mars, the astronauts can benefit from the above reaction by using the Martian atmosphere, which contains 96% carbon dioxide (CO2). Since the reaction requires carbon dioxide as one of the reactants, the astronauts can potentially utilize the available carbon dioxide for the production of water (H2O) and methane (CH4).

To utilize this reaction, the astronauts would need to gather or extract carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere. They can then combine the extracted carbon dioxide (CO2) with molecular hydrogen (H2) from their stored liquid hydrogen tanks according to the balanced equation:

2H2 + CO2 → 2H2O + CH4

By carrying out this reaction, they can generate water and methane, both of which could be valuable resources for survival on Mars. Water is essential for drinking, irrigation, and various other applications, while methane can serve as a potential energy source for power generation or rocket propellant.

It's important to note that additional equipment and processes would be required to efficiently carry out this reaction and make use of the resulting products.