Question
Based on the chemical equation, use the drop-down menu to choose the coefficients that will balance the chemical equation: (v)CaSO_(4)arrow (v)O_(2)+(v)CaS
Answer
4
(332 Votes)
Willow
Expert · Tutor for 3 years
Answer
The balanced chemical equation is:
All elements are now balanced, and the equation respects the law of conservation of mass.
Explanation
To balance the chemical equation, we need to ensure that the number of atoms of each element on the reactant side (left) is equal to the number of atoms of that element on the product side (right). Let's start by examining the given equation:
We will count the number of atoms of each element on both sides of the equation:- On the left side (reactant), we have 1 calcium (Ca), 1 sulfur (S), and 4 oxygen (O) atoms.- On the right side (products), we have 1 calcium (Ca), 1 sulfur (S), and 2 oxygen (O) atoms in
, and no oxygen atoms in
.We can see that calcium and sulfur are already balanced, with 1 atom each on both sides. However, oxygen is not balanced, as we have 4 oxygen atoms on the left and only 2 on the right.To balance the oxygen atoms, we need to have an equal number of oxygen atoms on both sides. Since we have
on the right side, which contains 2 oxygen atoms per molecule, we can place a coefficient of 2 in front of
to get a total of 4 oxygen atoms on the product side.The balanced equation will look like this:
Now, let's check the balance again:- Calcium: 1 atom on both sides- Sulfur: 1 atom on both sides- Oxygen: 4 atoms on both sides (2 molecules of
, each with 2 oxygen atoms)