Question

balance the following equation:*
nh₃ + o₂ → no + h₂o
your answer
this is a required question

Explanation:

Step1: Balance hydrogen atoms

The left side has \(NH_3\) (3 H atoms per molecule) and the right side has \(H_2O\) (2 H atoms per molecule). The least - common multiple of 3 and 2 is 6. So, we put a 2 in front of \(NH_3\) and a 3 in front of \(H_2O\):
\(2NH_3+O_2
ightarrow NO + 3H_2O\)
Now, for nitrogen atoms: with 2 \(NH_3\) molecules, we have 2 N atoms. So we put a 2 in front of \(NO\):
\(2NH_3+O_2
ightarrow 2NO + 3H_2O\)

Step2: Balance oxygen atoms

On the right - hand side, in \(2NO\) there are 2 O atoms and in \(3H_2O\) there are 3 O atoms. So the total number of O atoms on the right - hand side is \(2 + 3=5\). On the left - hand side, we have \(O_2\). Let the coefficient of \(O_2\) be \(x\). Then \(2x = 5\), \(x=\frac{5}{2}\). But we usually want whole - number coefficients. So we multiply the entire equation by 2 to get rid of the fraction.

Multiplying \(2NH_3+O_2
ightarrow 2NO + 3H_2O\) by 2 gives:
\(4NH_3+5O_2
ightarrow 4NO + 6H_2O\)

Answer:

\(4NH_3+5O_2 = 4NO + 6H_2O\)