In winemaking, the sugars in grapes undergo fermentation by yeast to yield CH3CH2OH and CO2. During cellular respiration, sugar and enthanol are "burned" to water vapor andCO2.
Write a combustion reaction for ethanol.
I need help with balancing the equation
i think it's
C2H6OH(l) + 3O2(g) ---> 2CO2(g) + 3H2O(g)
am I correct?..thanks!
looks good to me, except the C2H6OH should be C2H5OH.
To determine if you have balanced the equation correctly, we will go through the steps to balance it.
The combustion of ethanol, CH3CH2OH, involves reacting it with oxygen, O2, to produce carbon dioxide, CO2, and water, H2O.
The unbalanced equation is:
C2H6OH + O2 → CO2 + H2O
Now, let's balance the equation:
First, let's start with balancing the carbon (C) atoms. There are two carbon atoms on the left side and one carbon atom on the right side, so we need to balance the equation by placing a coefficient of 2 in front of the CO2 to have two carbon atoms on both sides:
C2H6OH + O2 → 2CO2 + H2O
Next, let's balance the hydrogen (H) atoms. There are six hydrogen atoms on the left side and two hydrogen atoms on the right side, so we need to balance the equation by placing a coefficient of 3 in front of the H2O to have six hydrogen atoms on both sides:
C2H6OH + O2 → 2CO2 + 3H2O
Lastly, let's balance the oxygen (O) atoms. There are two oxygen atoms in the ethanol compound and two oxygen atoms in the carbon dioxide compound, so we have four oxygen atoms on the left side. To balance the equation, we need to have four oxygen atoms on the right side as well. Since O2 is diatomic (two atoms of oxygen), we need a coefficient of 2 in front of O2:
C2H6OH + 2O2 → 2CO2 + 3H2O
Now, the equation is balanced, and based on the steps we followed, the correct balanced equation for the combustion of ethanol is:
C2H6OH + 2O2 → 2CO2 + 3H2O
So, you are incorrect in your initial attempt to balance the equation. The balanced equation is the one shown above.