Question
Below is the symbol equation for the reaction between nitrogen and hydrogen to form ammonia. What number is needed in the blank before H_(2) to balance the equation? N_(2)+ldots H_(2)arrow 2NH_(3)
Answer
4.7
(289 Votes)
Kieran
Master · Tutor for 5 years
Answer
3
Explanation
## Step 1: Identifying the Unbalanced Equation In chemistry balancing equations is crucial, as it shows the law of conservation of mass, which states that in a chemical process, the mass and the number of each type of atom must be preserved. So looking at this reaction of nitrogen and hydrogen forming ammonia:
we need to find the missing coefficient in front of
so that we have the same amount of each type of atom appearing on the left hand side (the reactants) and the right hand side (the products) of the equation. ## Step 2: Balancing Nitrogen Atoms Inspecting the Nitrogen (N) atoms, we notice that Nitrogen is already balanced, with 2 Nitrogen atoms on the reactant side (
) and 2 Nitrogen atoms on the product side (in
)
## Step 3: Balancing Hydrogen Atoms Next, we need to inspect and balance the Hydrogen (H) atoms. On the product side, there are 6 Hydrogen atoms (in
). Therefore, we need to ensure that there are also 6 Hydrogen atoms on the reactant side. Considering that each Hydrogen molecule,
, contains 2 Hydrogen atoms, we need three
molecules on the reactant side to balance the equation.