The mechanism for the reaction of nitrogen dioxide with carbon monoxide to form nitric oxide and carbon dioxide is thought to be the following.
NO2 + NO2 NO3 + NO Slow
NO3 + CO NO2 + CO2 Fast
What would be the overall balanced equation to this reaction?
To determine the overall balanced equation for the reaction, we need to consider the individual reactions and cancel out any species that appear on both sides of the equation. Let's break it down step by step:
1. The first reaction is:
NO2 + NO2 -> NO3 + NO
In this reaction, two nitrogen dioxide (NO2) molecules react with each other to form one nitrate (NO3) molecule and one nitric oxide (NO) molecule.
2. The second reaction is:
NO3 + CO -> NO2 + CO2
In this reaction, one nitrate (NO3) molecule reacts with one carbon monoxide (CO) molecule to form one nitrogen dioxide (NO2) molecule and one carbon dioxide (CO2) molecule.
Now, we can combine these two reactions to obtain the overall balanced equation:
NO2 + NO2 + NO3 + CO -> NO3 + NO + NO2 + CO2
However, we can simplify the equation further by canceling out the NO2 molecule on both sides:
NO2 + NO2 + NO3 + CO -> NO3 + NO + CO2
So, the overall balanced equation for the reaction of nitrogen dioxide with carbon monoxide to form nitric oxide and carbon dioxide is:
2NO2 + NO3 + CO -> NO3 + NO + CO2