Chemistry
State what is a balanced equation with a relevant example. Give a reason why an equation is balanced with reference to the law of conservation of matter.
Answer
A balanced equation is one in which the number of atoms of each element of the reactant is equal to the number of atoms of each element of the products.
Zn + H2SO4 ⟶ ZnSO4 + H2
An equation must be balanced to comply with the 'law of conservation of matter' because according to this law : matter is neither created nor destroyed during the chemical change.
Related Questions
What is a chemical equation. How it is represented. Differentiate between a 'word equation' and a 'molecular equation' with a suitable example.
State the information provided by a chemical equation. Chemical equations suffer from a number of limitations. State the main limitations of a chemical equation.
Write balanced molecular equations for the following word equations:
(a) Calcium + oxygen ⟶ Calcium oxide
(b) Calcium + water ⟶ Calcium hydroxide + hydrogen
(c) Zinc + sulphuric acid ⟶ Zinc sulphate + hydrogen
(d) Lead sulphate + ammonium hydroxide ⟶ Ammonium sulphate + lead hydroxide
(e) Copper hydroxide + nitric acid ⟶ copper nitrate + water
(f) Lead nitrate + sodium chloride ⟶ sodium nitrate + lead chloride
Balance the following equations:
(a) P + O2 ⟶ P2O5
(b) Na2O + H2O ⟶ NaOH
(c) K + H2O ⟶ KOH + H2
(d) Fe + H2O ⇌ Fe3O4 + H2
(e) CaO + HCl ⟶ CaCl2 + H2O
(f) Fe + Cl2 + FeCl3
(g) Al + H2O ⟶ Al2O3 + H2
(h) Al + H2SO4 ⟶ Al2(SO4)3 + H2
(i) Fe2O3 + H2 ⟶ Fe + H2O
(j) C + H2SO4 ⟶ CO2 + H2O + SO2
(k) Pb3O4 ⟶ PbO + O2
(l) Al + O2 ⟶ Al2O3
(m) NO + O2 ⟶ NO2
(n) ZnS + O2 ⟶ ZnO + SO2
(o) Pb3O4 + HCl ⟶ PbCl2 + H2O + Cl2
(p) ZnO + NaOH ⟶ Na2ZnO2 + H2O
(q) H2S + Cl2 ⟶ S + HCl
(r) FeCl3 + NaOH ⟶ NaCl + Fe(OH)3
(s) Fe2O3 + CO ⟶ Fe + CO2
(t) KHCO3 ⟶ K2CO3 + H2O + CO2
(u) CuO + NH3 ⟶ Cu + H2O + N2