Identify this reaction NH3 + H2SO4 + (NH4)2SO4)
a. double displacement
b. synthesis
c. single displacement
d. decomposition
The Correct Answer and Explanation is :
1. Identify the reaction: NH3 + H2SO4 → (NH4)2SO4
The reaction given is:
[
\text{NH}_3 + \text{H}_2\text{SO}_4 \rightarrow (\text{NH}_4)_2\text{SO}_4
]
This is an example of a synthesis reaction. A synthesis reaction occurs when two or more reactants combine to form a single product. In this case, ammonia (NH₃) and sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) combine to form ammonium sulfate ((NH₄)₂SO₄), a compound that contains both ammonium ions (NH₄⁺) and sulfate ions (SO₄²⁻).
Thus, the correct answer is:
b. synthesis
2. Balance the unbalanced chemical equation: Sg(g) + O₂(g) → SO₃(g)
The unbalanced equation is:
[
\text{Sg(g)} + \text{O}_2(g) \rightarrow \text{SO}_3(g)
]
Let’s balance this step-by-step:
Step 1: Balance sulfur atoms.
There is 1 sulfur atom on the left-hand side (Sg), and 1 sulfur atom on the right-hand side (in SO₃). Therefore, sulfur is balanced.
Step 2: Balance oxygen atoms.
On the right-hand side, there are 3 oxygen atoms in SO₃. On the left-hand side, O₂ contains 2 oxygen atoms per molecule. To balance the oxygen atoms, we need to adjust the number of O₂ molecules.
We need to have a total of 3 oxygen atoms on the left-hand side to balance the 3 oxygen atoms on the right-hand side. Therefore, we need 3/2 molecules of O₂ on the left-hand side:
[
\text{Sg(g)} + \frac{3}{2} \text{O}_2(g) \rightarrow \text{SO}_3(g)
]
Step 3: Remove the fraction by multiplying the entire equation by 2.
Multiplying by 2 will remove the fraction:
[
2 \text{Sg(g)} + 3 \text{O}_2(g) \rightarrow 2 \text{SO}_3(g)
]
Final Balanced Equation:
[
2 \text{Sg(g)} + 3 \text{O}_2(g) \rightarrow 2 \text{SO}_3(g)
]
Explanation:
The process of balancing a chemical equation follows the law of conservation of mass, which states that atoms are neither created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction. Therefore, the number of atoms of each element must be the same on both sides of the equation.
In this case:
- Sulfur (Sg) atoms are balanced because there is 1 sulfur on each side, but we needed to adjust the number of oxygen (O₂) molecules to achieve this balance.
- Oxygen (O₂) is a diatomic molecule, so the challenge was adjusting the number of O₂ molecules. By multiplying the equation by 2, we achieved whole numbers for the coefficients.