A compound containg 3 atoms of carbon and 8 atoms of hydrogen is combined in a reaction with oxygen molecules. The two end products of this equation are carbon dioxide (CO2) and water. What element should you look at first in balancing this equation? Is the answer a.b.c or d?
a. oxygen
b. hydrogen
c. carbon
d. Dioxide
When you have finished balancing the equation for the above question, which chemical element will have the largest number of molecules in your balanced equation? choose a. b. c. or d?
a. the C3H
b. the oxygen
c. the carbon dioxide
d. the water
You or another person posted this same question earlier. You can scroll down a few questions to find it. Tell me what you don't understand about balancing equations. I answered #1 for the previously posted question that it hardly matters where one starts in balancing an equation. Any place is as good as any; some are better than others. In the spirit of the question, however, I answered that I would start with C.
Which chemical or element will have the largest number of molecules in your balance equation?
Cant you be appropriate?
1 a 2 b
I say it is b
To balance this equation, we need to ensure that the number of atoms on both sides of the equation is equal. Let's start by examining the elements individually.
First, let's consider the number of carbon atoms. Initially, there are 3 carbon atoms on one side, and in the carbon dioxide (CO2) product, there is only 1 carbon atom. So, carbon needs to be balanced.
Next, let's look at the hydrogen atoms. Initially, there are 8 hydrogen atoms on one side, and in the water (H2O) product, there are also 8 hydrogen atoms. So, hydrogen is already balanced.
Now, let's consider the oxygen atoms. In the reactant compound, we have 3 carbon atoms and 8 hydrogen atoms, but no oxygen atoms specified. On the product side, carbon dioxide has 2 oxygen atoms, and water has 1 oxygen atom. To balance oxygen, we need to add 2 oxygen molecules (O2) on the reactant side.
Therefore, when balancing this equation, we should first look at the oxygen element. The answer is (a) oxygen.
Now, to determine the element with the largest number of molecules in the balanced equation, let's take a look at the balanced equation:
C3H8 + 5O2 → 3CO2 + 4H2O
In the balanced equation, we see that the highest number of molecules is 5 O2 on the reactant side. Therefore, the element with the largest number of molecules in the balanced equation is (b) the oxygen.