I am really stuck, I have tried to look these up everywhere and I keep getting different answers.
I have to find the balanced equations for:
Magnesium + Citric acid
Zinc + citric acid
Copper + Citric acid
Manganese + Citric acid
If I can have some help it would be much appreciated!
Do they all follow the same pattern?
Citric acid is an organic acid that I can't draw on the board but it is convenient to show it as H3C to indicate it has three replaceable H atoms. Assuming you have an excess of the metal in the reactions, all three H atoms will be replaced. I will do the first one for you.
3Mg + 2H3C ==> 3H2 + Mg3C2
3 magnesium + 2 citric acid ==> 3 hydrogen gas + magnesium citrate.
Since the valence of Mg, Cu, Zn and Mn are the same in these reactions, you need only replace the metal and all of the coefficients remain the same.
Ok, is citric acid not C6H8O7 ? That's what my teacher has said. Would it be: 2C6H8O7 + 3Mg --->(C6H5O7)2Mg3 + 3H2
yes. It isn't incorrect to write magnesium citrate the way you did; however, USUALLY we write the cation ion first and the anion second so I would write that as Mg3(C6H5O7)2.
Ahh ok, thank you very much :)
Balancing chemical equations can be a bit challenging, but with the right approach, you can find the balanced equations for these reactions. Chemical equations must satisfy the law of conservation of mass, meaning the number of atoms of each element on the reactant side must be equal to the number of atoms on the product side.
To balance these equations, we need to follow a general pattern:
1. Write down the unbalanced equation by combining the reactants and products.
2. Count the number of atoms for each element on both sides of the equation.
3. Start balancing the equation by adjusting coefficients (numbers in front of the chemical formulas) to equalize the number of atoms for each element.
4. After balancing, double-check that the equation is properly balanced.
Let's go through each reaction:
1. Magnesium + Citric acid:
The unbalanced equation is: Mg + C6H8O7 → ?.
Counting the atoms, we have 1 magnesium atom (Mg), 6 carbon atoms (C), 8 hydrogen atoms (H), and 7 oxygen atoms (O).
To balance the equation, start with the element that appears in the fewest formulas, which is magnesium in this case. We need to balance the atoms on both sides by adding coefficients.
The balanced equation is: 3Mg + 2C6H8O7 → 2C3H4O7 + 3MgO.
2. Zinc + Citric acid:
The unbalanced equation is: Zn + C6H8O7 → ?.
Counting the atoms, we have 1 zinc atom (Zn), 6 carbon atoms (C), 8 hydrogen atoms (H), and 7 oxygen atoms (O).
To balance this equation, start with zinc.
The balanced equation is: Zn + 2C6H8O7 → 2C3H4O7 + ZnO.
3. Copper + Citric acid:
The unbalanced equation is: Cu + C6H8O7 → ?.
Counting the atoms, we have 1 copper atom (Cu), 6 carbon atoms (C), 8 hydrogen atoms (H), and 7 oxygen atoms (O).
To balance this equation, start with copper.
The balanced equation is: 3Cu + 2C6H8O7 → 2C3H4O7 + 3CuO.
4. Manganese + Citric acid:
The unbalanced equation is: Mn + C6H8O7 → ?.
Counting the atoms, we have 1 manganese atom (Mn), 6 carbon atoms (C), 8 hydrogen atoms (H), and 7 oxygen atoms (O).
To balance this equation, start with manganese.
The balanced equation is: 2Mn + 3C6H8O7 → 2C3H4O7 + 2MnO2.
Each reaction follows a similar pattern, but the coefficients vary depending on the number of atoms involved.
Remember, balancing equations requires practice, so try solving more equations to enhance your skills.