Balance the following equations.
A) SO2 + O2 --> SO3
B)Fe2O3 + H2 --> Fe +H2O
C)P + O2 -->P4O10
D)Al + N2 --> AlN
This is done by trial and error. But I will go through the first one.
SO2 + O2 ==> SO3
1. Take them in order.
2. S balances so we are ok.
3. O doesn't balance AND I notice that we have an even/odd number of the two sides so we KNOW we can never balance them unless we use something like the common denominator for 2 and 3. That would be 6 so we do it this way.
S + 3O2 ==> 2SO3 which takes care of the O nicely. Of course, it messes up the S BUT we can fix that.
4. We add a 2 for the reactant S.
2S + 3O2 ==>2SO3
THEN we ALWAYS check it at the end.
I see 2 S on each side.
I see 6 O on each side.
DONE.
Practice makes perfect. As you do more of these you gain experience which helps tell you where to start balancing, which ones to look for trick of the trade, etc. Good luck.
To balance chemical equations, we need to make sure that the number of atoms of each element is equal on both sides of the equation. Here's how you can balance each of the given equations:
A) SO2 + O2 --> SO3
Start by counting the number of atoms on each side: On the left side, we have one sulfur (S) atom, two oxygen (O) atoms from SO2, and two oxygen atoms from O2. On the right side, we have one sulfur atom and three oxygen atoms.
To balance the number of sulfur atoms, we need a coefficient of 1 in front of SO3. To balance the number of oxygen atoms, we need a coefficient of 1/2 in front of O2. The balanced equation is:
SO2 + (1/2)O2 --> SO3
B) Fe2O3 + H2 --> Fe + H2O
On the left side, we have two iron (Fe) atoms, three oxygen atoms from Fe2O3, two hydrogen (H) atoms from H2, and two oxygen atoms from H2O. On the right side, we have one iron atom, and two hydrogen atoms.
To balance the number of iron atoms, we need a coefficient of 2 in front of Fe. To balance the number of hydrogen atoms, we need a coefficient of 3 in front of H2O. The balanced equation is:
Fe2O3 + 3H2 --> 2Fe + 3H2O
C) P + O2 --> P4O10
On the left side, we have one phosphorus (P) atom and two oxygen atoms from O2. On the right side, we have four phosphorus atoms and ten oxygen atoms.
To balance the number of phosphorus atoms, we need a coefficient of 4 in front of P. To balance the number of oxygen atoms, we need a coefficient of 5 in front of O2. The balanced equation is:
P + 5O2 --> P4O10
D) Al + N2 --> AlN
On the left side, we have one aluminum (Al) atom and two nitrogen (N) atoms from N2. On the right side, we have one aluminum atom and one nitrogen atom.
The equation is already balanced in terms of aluminum. However, to balance the number of nitrogen atoms, we need a coefficient of 2 in front of AlN. The balanced equation is:
2Al + N2 --> 2AlN
These are the balanced equations for the given chemical reactions.