Can anyone please help?
ive been asked to write a balanced chemical equation for the breakdown of seleniuos acid H2SeO3 in water and to decuce the charge on the other ion that is formed.
Thanks :)
H2SeO3 (aq) ==> 2H+(aq) + SeO3=(aq)
To write a balanced chemical equation for the breakdown of selenious acid (H2SeO3) in water, you need to consider the dissociation of its ions. The selenious acid dissociates into two hydrogen ions (H+) and one selenite ion (SeO3=). Here's how you can determine the charges:
1. Determine the charges of hydrogen ions (H+):
Hydrogen ions (H+) are always positively charged in aqueous solutions, so the charge remains +1.
2. Determine the charge of the selenite ion (SeO3=):
To determine the charge, we need to look at the overall charge of the compound and the number of oxygen atoms bonded to selenium.
In selenious acid (H2SeO3), the overall charge is 0 since it is neutral.
Each oxygen atom has a charge of -2, and since there are three oxygen atoms bonded to selenium, the total charge of the oxygen atoms is (-2) x 3 = -6.
Therefore, the charge on the selenite ion (SeO3=) is +6 to compensate for the -6 charge of the oxygen atoms.
Putting it all together, the balanced chemical equation for the breakdown of selenious acid (H2SeO3) in water is:
H2SeO3 (aq) → 2H+ (aq) + SeO3= (aq)
The hydrogen ions have a charge of +1, and the selenite ions have a charge of +6.