The symbol equation below shows the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, but it is not balanced . If you balanced this equation , what number would you enter in gap (3)? Enter your answer as a number 1 H_(2)+2O_(2)arrow 3H_(2)O

This question is dealing with stoichiometry, which is the numeric relationships between atoms, ions, or other particles in a chemical reaction. The chemical equation given is (1) Giving each side a count of atoms yields:Left side - Hydrogen: 2x1=2 . Oxygen: 2x2=4Right side - Hydrogen: 2x3=6 . Oxygen: 1x3=3. Since the balancing requires equal count of each type of atom in the left and the right equations, and there currently isn't in the right side, adjustments are needed. From the above counts, we need two more Hydrogen atoms, and another Oxygen atom on the right side. Since every molecule of the , we can simply add another molecule of . Making those changes fulfill the balancing condition in stoichiometry. Therefore, is the balanced equation. Hence, gap (3) would have a 4 placed in it.