sulfur dioxide (g) + oxygen (g) sulfur trioxide (g)

SO2 + O = SO3

Is this correct for the balanced equation?

No. Don't get carried away with trying to balance the equation by changing the subscripts. In fact, a good rule to remember is this.

1. Write the reactants and products.
SO2 + O2 ==> SO3 (You must have O2 since oxygen is a diatomic molecule. We don't have just O floating around.)
RULE # 2. You may NOT change any subscripts.
3. Balance by changing ONLY the coefficients.
4. 2SO2 + O2 ==> 2SO3

No, the given equation is not correct for a balanced equation. Let's balance it step-by-step:

1. Start by counting the number of elements on each side of the equation.

On the left side, we have sulfur (S) and oxygen (O), but on the right side only have sulfur (S) and oxygen (O). We need to balance the number of elements.

2. Balance the sulfur atoms.

Since there is only one sulfur atom on each side, we don't need to modify the sulfur atoms.

3. Balance the oxygen atoms.

On the left side, we have one oxygen atom from sulfur dioxide (SO2) and one oxygen atom from oxygen gas (O2), making a total of 2 oxygen atoms. However, on the right side, we only have 1 oxygen atom from sulfur trioxide (SO3). To balance the oxygen atoms, we need to multiply SO3 by 2.

4. The balanced equation becomes:

2SO2 + O2 → 2SO3

So, the correct balanced equation is 2SO2 + O2 → 2SO3.

To determine if the given equation is balanced, we need to count the number of atoms on each side of the equation. Let's analyze it step by step.

Given equation: SO2 + O = SO3

On the left side (reactant side):
- There is one sulfur (S) atom on the left side.
- There are two oxygen (O) atoms in the SO2 molecule.

On the right side (product side):
- There is still one sulfur (S) atom.
- There are three oxygen (O) atoms in the SO3 molecule.

Comparing the number of atoms, we can see that the equation is not yet balanced since the number of oxygen atoms is different on both sides.

To balance the equation, we need to adjust the coefficients in front of the formulas to make the number of atoms equal on both sides. Let's balance the equation by adding the appropriate coefficients:

SO2 + O2 = SO3

Now, let's count the number of atoms again:

On the left side (reactant side):
- There is one sulfur (S) atom.
- There are two oxygen (O) atoms in the SO2 molecule.

On the right side (product side):
- There is still one sulfur (S) atom.
- There are three oxygen (O) atoms in the SO3 molecule.

Now, the equation is balanced, as the number of atoms of each element is equal on both sides. Hence, the correct balanced equation is:

2SO2 + O2 = 2SO3