If you were balancing a chemical equation that contained the substance sodium nitrate, NaNO3, composed of a sodium ion, Na+1, and a nitrate ion, (NO3)-1, what number or numbers could you change in order to balance the equation?
I assume this is not a redox equation.
Na^+ + NO3^- is what it contained.
You may NOT change any subscript; therefore, Na+1 must stay the same and the 1 after N in NO3^- and the 3 for O must not change. You MAY change the coefficients, such as
2Na^+ and/or 2NO3^-.
To balance a chemical equation containing sodium nitrate (NaNO3), you need to ensure that the same number of each type of atom is present on both sides of the equation.
In the case of sodium nitrate, there is one sodium ion (Na+1) and one nitrate ion ((NO3)-1) on the left-hand side of the equation. Therefore, you should start by looking at the number of sodium and nitrate ions on the right-hand side of the equation.
Let's say the equation is: NaNO3 -> ?
If you have an equation like this, you can play with the coefficients (the numbers in front of each compound or molecule) to balance the equation.
To balance the equation, you can change the coefficient of NaNO3 and adjust the number of sodium ions (Na+1) and nitrate ions ((NO3)-1) accordingly.
For example, you could write the balanced equation as:
2NaNO3 -> 2Na+1 + (NO3)-1
In this case, multiplying all the species by 2 on the right-hand side allows for equal numbers of atoms on both sides of the equation.
Remember, it's essential to verify that all elements are balanced, not just the sodium and nitrate ions, to properly balance the equation.