Balance the equation
?C4H10 (g) + ?O2 (g) !
?CO2 (g) + ?H2O(g) ,
using the smallest possible integers. What is
the coefficient of C4H10?
Try
2C4H10 + 13O2 ==> 8CO2 + 10H2O
To balance the equation, we need to make sure that the number of atoms of each element is the same on both sides of the equation.
Given the equation:
C4H10 (g) + O2 (g) -> CO2 (g) + H2O(g)
Let's start by balancing the carbon (C) atoms. There are 4 carbon atoms in the C4H10 molecule and only 1 carbon atom in the CO2 molecule. Therefore, we need a coefficient of 4 in front of CO2 to match the number of carbon atoms:
C4H10 (g) + O2 (g) -> 4CO2 (g) + H2O(g)
Next, let's balance the hydrogen (H) atoms. There are 10 hydrogen atoms in the C4H10 molecule and only 2 hydrogen atoms in the H2O molecule. Therefore, we need a coefficient of 5 in front of H2O to match the number of hydrogen atoms:
C4H10 (g) + O2 (g) -> 4CO2 (g) + 5H2O(g)
Finally, let's balance the oxygen (O) atoms. There are 2 oxygen atoms in the O2 molecule and 8 oxygen atoms in the 4CO2 molecules. Therefore, we need a coefficient of 13/2 (6.5) in front of O2 to match the number of oxygen atoms:
C4H10 (g) + 6.5O2 (g) -> 4CO2 (g) + 5H2O(g)
However, we want to use the smallest possible integers as coefficients. To convert the coefficient of O2 to a whole number, we can multiply every coefficient by 2:
2C4H10 (g) + 13O2 (g) -> 8CO2 (g) + 10H2O(g)
Now that the equation is balanced, we can see that the coefficient of C4H10 is 2.