potassium metal reacts with water to give potassium hydroxide and hydrogen gas
How to balance this equation with proper steps?
To balance the equation for the reaction in which potassium metal reacts with water to give potassium hydroxide and hydrogen gas, follow these steps:
Step 1: Write down the unbalanced equation
K + H2O -> KOH + H2
Step 2: Balance the atoms other than hydrogen and oxygen
Since there is only one potassium (K) atom on each side, it is already balanced.
Step 3: Balance the hydrogen atoms
There are two hydrogen (H) atoms on the left side and only two on the right side. Therefore, the hydrogen atoms are already balanced.
Step 4: Balance the oxygen atoms
There is one oxygen (O) atom on the left side and one on the right side, both in the form of H2O. Therefore, the oxygen atoms are also already balanced.
Step 5: Check the overall balance of the equation
All the atoms are balanced, so the equation is already balanced as written:
2K + 2H2O -> 2KOH + H2
The final balanced equation is 2K + 2H2O -> 2KOH + H2.
To balance the equation, follow these steps:
Step 1: Write down the unbalanced equation:
Potassium (K) + Water (H2O) → Potassium Hydroxide (KOH) + Hydrogen Gas (H2)
Step 2: Balance the least complex or most uncommon element first. In this case, it is Hydrogen (H).
To balance the Hydrogen atoms:
- There are 2 Hydrogen atoms on the left side and 2 on the right side. It is already balanced.
Step 3: Balance the least complex element (in this case, Oxygen) that is not balanced yet.
To balance the Oxygen atoms:
- There are 2 Oxygen atoms on the left side (from the water molecule) and 1 Oxygen atom on the right side (from the potassium hydroxide molecule). To make them equal, we need to add a coefficient of 2 in front of the KOH.
Balanced equation:
2K + 2H2O → 2KOH + H2
Now the equation is balanced, with 2 potassium (K) atoms on both sides, 4 hydrogen (H) atoms on both sides, and 2 oxygen (O) atoms on both sides.