Balancing Equations
Sucrose(C12H22O11) and oxygen produce a solid carbon, water and 3 units of carbon dioxide.
To balance this equation, we need to ensure that the number of atoms of each element is the same on both sides of the equation:
C12H22O11 + O2 → C + H2O + CO2
Here's how you balance the equation step-by-step:
1. Start by balancing carbon (C) atoms:
C12H22O11 + O2 → 12C + H2O + CO2
2. Balance hydrogen (H) atoms next. There are 22 hydrogen atoms on the left side, so we need to add a coefficient of 11 in front of H2O:
C12H22O11 + O2 → 12C + 11H2O + CO2
3. Balance oxygen (O) atoms now. There are 34 oxygen atoms on the right side (12 from CO2 and 22 from H2O). To balance the oxygen atoms, add a coefficient of 6 in front of O2:
C12H22O11 + 6O2 → 12C + 11H2O + CO2
Now the equation is balanced with:
C12H22O11 + 6O2 → 12C + 11H2O + CO2
To balance the equation:
C12H22O11 + O2 → C + H2O + CO2
We need to make sure that the number of atoms on the left-hand side of the equation is equal to the number of atoms on the right-hand side. Let's break it down step by step:
First, let's look at carbon (C). We have 12 carbon atoms on the left (12 C in C12H22O11), and only 1 on the right (C in C). To balance this, we need a coefficient of 12 in front of C:
C12H22O11 + O2 → 12 C + H2O + CO2
Next, let's look at hydrogen (H). We have 22 hydrogen atoms on the left (22 H in C12H22O11) and only 2 on the right (2 H in H2O). To balance this, we need a coefficient of 11/2 or 5.5 in front of H2O:
C12H22O11 + O2 → 12 C + 5.5 H2O + CO2
Note that we cannot have fractional coefficients, so we will multiply the entire equation by 2 to get rid of the decimal:
2 C12H22O11 + O2 → 24 C + 11 H2O + 2 CO2
Now, let's look at oxygen (O). We have 2 oxygen atoms on the left (1 O in C12H22O11, and 1 O in O2) and a total of 11 oxygen atoms on the right (10 O in H2O and 2 O in CO2). To balance this, we need a coefficient of 11/2 or 5.5 in front of O2:
2 C12H22O11 + 5.5 O2 → 24 C + 11 H2O + 2 CO2
Again, we cannot have fractional coefficients, so we will multiply the entire equation by 2 to get rid of the decimal:
4 C12H22O11 + 11 O2 → 48 C + 22 H2O + 4 CO2
So the balanced equation is:
4 C12H22O11 + 11 O2 → 48 C + 22 H2O + 4 CO2