Below is the symbol equation for the combustion of butane with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water. What number is needed in the blank before water to balance the equation? 2C_(4)H_(10)+13O_(2)arrow 8CO_(2)+H_(2)O

## Step 1:The combustion of butane (C4H10) can be represented by the general equation for alkanes, given as: \(CnH2n + \frac{{3n+1}}{2}O2 \rightarrow nCO2 + \frac{{(n+1)H2O}}{2}\). In this formula, 'n' stands for the number of carbon atoms in the alkane. ## Step 2:Here, n is equal to 4 because butane has 4 carbon atoms, thus replacing n with 4 in the equation results in \(C4H10 + \frac{{3(4)+1}}{2}O2 \rightarrow 4CO2 + \frac{{(4+1)H2O}}{2}\).## Step 3:To completely remove the fraction in the molecules, we multiply both sides of the equation by 2. This results in the balanced reaction equation given as .