Im having trouble with reading a chemical equation. ( Numbers on the right side of the element are subscripts )
A) 2SO2 + O2 +2H2O -> 2H2SO4
1. How many total molecules are represented? ( I m having trouble recognizing when it s a molecule or just an element and which is which)
I feel SO2 is a molecule, O2., H2O, H2, SO4
I believe there is 5.
2. How many types of molecules are represented? Is there a difference or what? How do I recognize an exact type? For example if there are two CO2, would that be considered 1 type?
I think there are all 5 different types of molecules.
Thanks! And Please Explain thoroughly!
Let's have some definitions:
Element - the simplest substance made up of one type of atom that cannot be broken down by any chemical means. It can be converted to other elements by nuclear methods, though. Examples are Na, Ca, Mg.
Molecule - group of atoms bonded together, so the number of atoms in a molecule must be 2 or more, regardless of whether they're the same atoms or not.
For instance, we can say that O2, H2, H2O are molecules.
Compound - a molecule which consists of 2 or more different atoms. Thus we can say that H2O is a molecule AND a compound, but O2 and H2 are molecules but NOT compounds because they're consist of only one type of atom.
A.
All of them are molecules. So we count all of them. There are 4 different kinds of molecules here (SO2, O2, H2O and H2SO4), but counting from the balanced reaction, we have
2 molecules of SO2 + 1 molecule of O2 + 2 molecules H2O + 2 molecules of H2SO4 produced = 7 molecules total (reactants and product)
B.
There are 4 kinds here (SO2, O2, H2O and H2SO4).
hope this helps~ `u`
Here is #2 first before we tackle #1.
2. How many types of molecules are represented? Is there a difference or what? How do I recognize an exact type? For example if there are two CO2, would that be considered 1 type?
SO2 is one type, H2O is a second type, H2SO4 is a third and O2 is a fourth. Type is a slight misnomer. I would rather call these different molecules instead of different types because different people define types different ways. And yes, 2CO2 is still just one type.
Now for #1.
2SO2 + O2 +2H2O -> 2H2SO4
1. How many total molecules are represented? ( I m having trouble recognizing when it s a molecule or just an element and which is which)
I feel SO2 is a molecule, O2., H2O, H2, SO4
I believe there is 5.
You are partly right. SO2 is a molecule as well as H2O, H2SO4, and O2. So there are 4 KINDS of molecules or 4 different molecules. I prefer that to calling them types. As for the TOTAL number of molecules in that equation, I would like to the context of this question because it can be confusing. Some people interpret the coefficients in the equation to mean "molecules" i.e., they will add 2+1+2+2 = 7 and tell you there are 7 molecules but that isn't right. Technically, those coefficients stand for MOLES which is really another story. Each mole listed contains 6.02E23 molecules; therefore, you have 2*6E3 + 1*6E23 + 2*6E23 + 2*6E23 = 7*6E23 or 4.2E24 individual molecules represented in that equation. By the way, H2SO4 is a molecule; when they are combined like that it isn't legal to separate them into H2 and SO4. H2SO4 counts as one kind of molecule and not two kinds.
To answer your questions:
1. How many total molecules are represented?
To determine the total number of molecules represented in a chemical equation, you need to count the number of distinct chemical species on both sides of the equation. In this given equation, the chemical species are:
- 2SO2: This represents 2 molecules of sulfur dioxide (SO2).
- O2: This represents 1 molecule of oxygen gas (O2).
- 2H2O: This represents 2 molecules of water (H2O).
- 2H2SO4: This represents 2 molecules of sulfuric acid (H2SO4).
So, when you add up the individual molecules, you get a total of 7 molecules represented in the equation.
2. How many types of molecules are represented?
To determine the number of types of molecules represented, you need to identify chemical species that are distinct from each other in the equation. In this case, the distinct types of molecules are:
- SO2: This is the molecule of sulfur dioxide.
- O2: This is the molecule of oxygen gas.
- H2O: This is the molecule of water.
- H2SO4: This is the molecule of sulfuric acid.
In this equation, there are four different types of molecules.
If there were two CO2 molecules instead of just one, it would still be considered as one type because CO2 molecules are the same. The subscript "2" in 2CO2 indicates how many of the same type of molecule are present.
I hope this explanation helps you understand how to identify molecules and types of molecules in a chemical equation. Let me know if you have any further questions!