when water is added to solid calcium carbide, CaC2, acetylene gas,C2H2,and calcium hydroxide,Ca(OH)2, are produced. how do i write a balanced equation for the reaction.
CaC2 + H2O ==> Ca(OH)2 + C2H2
You balance it.
a little confuse (OH)2 does this mean theres 2 Oxygen as well i know for sure that theres 2 hydrogens
Anytime parentheses include anything, everything inside the parentheses is multiplied by the subscript that follows.
Ca(OH)2. There is 1 Ca atom, 2 O atoms, 2 H atoms.
To write a balanced equation for the reaction between water and solid calcium carbide (CaC2), we need to consider the conservation of atoms. This means that the number and types of atoms should be the same on both sides of the equation.
Let's break down the reaction into its individual components:
1. Calcium carbide (CaC2) reacts with water (H2O) to produce acetylene gas (C2H2) and calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2).
The balanced equation for this reaction is:
CaC2 + 2H2O → C2H2 + Ca(OH)2
Now, let's go through the process of balancing the equation step by step:
1. Start by balancing the atoms other than hydrogen and oxygen.
- There is one calcium (Ca) atom on the left side, so we need one on the right side.
- There is one carbon (C) atom on the left side, and there are two carbon atoms in acetylene on the right side. To balance the carbon, we put a coefficient of 2 in front of CaC2.
The equation now becomes:
2CaC2 + ___H2O → C2H2 + Ca(OH)2
2. Balance the hydrogen (H) atoms by putting a coefficient of 4 in front of the water molecule on the left side.
- Now, there are 4 hydrogen atoms on the left side and 4 hydrogen atoms in the acetylene molecule on the right side.
The equation becomes:
2CaC2 + 4H2O → C2H2 + Ca(OH)2
3. Balance the oxygen (O) atoms by putting a coefficient of 2 in front of the calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) on the right side.
- This gives us 2 oxygen atoms on the left side and 2 oxygen atoms on the right side.
The final balanced equation is:
2CaC2 + 4H2O → C2H2 + 2Ca(OH)2
So, when water is added to solid calcium carbide, the balanced equation for the reaction is:
2CaC2 + 4H2O → C2H2 + 2Ca(OH)2