Use the unbalanced chemical equation to answer the question.
2NaHCO3 → Na2CO3 + CO2
Which of the following can be added to the products to balance the equation?
(1 point)
Responses
CH2OH
CH 2 OH
H2
H 2
H2O
H 2 O
O2
H2O
To balance the chemical equation 2NaHCO3 → Na2CO3 + CO2, we need to add the appropriate number of atoms to each element on both sides of the equation.
Let's analyze each response option:
1. CH2OH (or CH 2 OH) does not contain any elements mentioned in the unbalanced equation, so it cannot be added to balance it.
2. H2 contains hydrogen (H) which is part of the equation. However, in the unbalanced equation, there is already the correct number of hydrogen atoms on both sides, so H2 does not need to be added.
3. H2O contains hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O), both of which are present in the unbalanced equation. However, the unbalanced equation already contains carbon dioxide (CO2), which is composed of carbon (C) and oxygen (O) atoms. Adding water (H2O) would introduce extra oxygen atoms and unbalance the equation further.
4. O2 contains only oxygen (O) atoms, which we do need to balance. In the unbalanced equation, there is only one oxygen atom on the left side (2NaHCO3) and four oxygen atoms on the right side (Na2CO3 + CO2). By adding O2 to the left side, we can balance the equation.
Therefore, the correct answer is O2. Adding O2 to the left side of the equation will balance the number of oxygen atoms on both sides of the equation.
To balance the given chemical equation, we want to make sure that there is an equal number of each type of atom on both sides of the equation.
Let's count the number of atoms on each side of the equation:
On the left side:
- 2 Na atoms
- 2 H atoms
- 2 C atoms
- 6 O atoms
On the right side:
- 2 Na atoms
- 1 C atom
- 2 O atoms
- 1 CO2 molecule (which contains 1 C atom and 2 O atoms)
We can see that there are an equal number of Na atoms on both sides, but the number of H, C, and O atoms is unbalanced.
To balance the equation, we need to adjust the coefficients in front of the compounds or molecules. In this case, we need to add something to the products to balance the equation.
Let's consider the given options:
CH2OH or CH 2 OH: This compound does not contain any C atoms or O atoms, so it won't help balance the equation.
H2: This compound contains 2 H atoms, which can be useful to balance the equation as there are 2 H atoms on the left side. However, we need to balance all types of atoms, not just H atoms.
H2O: This compound contains 2 H atoms and 1 O atom. Adding water (H2O) to the products can help balance the equation. By doing so, we would have:
2 NaHCO3 → Na2CO3 + CO2 + H2O
O2: This compound contains only O atoms and does not help balance the equation as there are already enough O atoms on each side.
Therefore, the correct option to balance the equation is H2O.