methyl benzene + oxygen

is this just a combustion reactions so CO2 and H2O are produced?

Yes if heat is applied.

How would I balance the equation then. I`ve tried several times but it's not working out.

C7H8 + 9O2 ==> 7CO2 + 4H2O

Why is it C7H8? Dosen't every C in benzene, with the exception of the C attacthed to the methyl group, have 2 hydrogens attactches to it since C needs to make 4 bonds?

Benzene is C6H6 (each C in the benzene ring has a single carbon and alternating double bonds around the ring. So the phenyl group is C6H5 and you add a methyl group to that so it is C6H5CH3. It I didn't add wrong, that's C7H8.

By the way, the trivial name for that is toluene. Here is a page you can read about it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toluene

Thanks so much :)

Yes, the reaction between methylbenzene (also known as toluene, C₇H₈) and oxygen (O₂) is indeed a combustion reaction. In combustion reactions, a fuel combines with oxygen from the air to produce carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water (H₂O) as the main products.

To determine the balanced chemical equation for this reaction, we can follow the steps below:

Step 1: Write the unbalanced equation.
C₇H₈ + O₂ → CO₂ + H₂O

Step 2: Balance the carbon atoms by adjusting the coefficient in front of CO₂.
C₇H₈ + O₂ → 7CO₂ + H₂O

Step 3: Balance the hydrogen atoms by adjusting the coefficient in front of H₂O.
C₇H₈ + O₂ → 7CO₂ + 4H₂O

Now, the balanced chemical equation for the combustion of methylbenzene with oxygen is:
C₇H₈ + 9O₂ → 7CO₂ + 4H₂O

This means that for every one molecule of methylbenzene reacting with nine molecules of oxygen, seven molecules of carbon dioxide and four molecules of water are produced.