Write a balanced formula equation with phase indicators:
Strong heating of copper(II) nitrate trihydrate produces copper (II) oxide, nitrogen dioxide, oxygen gas, and water
(The part I'm confused about is how to write the molecular formula for copper (II) nitrate trihydrate)
So far I have _____ -> CuO (s) + NO2 (g) + O2 (g) + H2O (g)
Cu(NO3)2.3H2O or Cu(NO3)*3H2O or Cu(NO3)2(H2O)3
To write the formula for copper(II) nitrate trihydrate, you need to know the formula for copper(II) nitrate as well as the concept of hydrates.
The formula for copper(II) nitrate is Cu(NO₃)₂.
Hydrates are compounds that contain a certain number of water molecules chemically bound to the other compound. The number of water molecules is indicated by a prefix in the compound's name. In this case, "tri" indicates that there are three water molecules per formula unit.
To determine the formula of copper(II) nitrate trihydrate, you need to combine the formula for copper(II) nitrate with the number of water molecules.
The chemical formula for copper(II) nitrate trihydrate is Cu(NO₃)₂ ⋅ 3H₂O.
Now, let's write the balanced equation for the reaction:
Cu(NO₃)₂ ⋅ 3H₂O (s) -> CuO (s) + 2NO₂ (g) + O₂ (g) + 3H₂O (g)
In this reaction, strong heating of copper(II) nitrate trihydrate produces solid copper(II) oxide (CuO), gaseous nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), gaseous oxygen (O₂), and water (H₂O), which can exist as gas due to the high temperature.