{"id":221066,"date":"2025-05-29T07:00:45","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T07:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=221066"},"modified":"2025-05-29T07:00:48","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T07:00:48","slug":"balance-this-equation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/29\/balance-this-equation\/","title":{"rendered":"Balance this equation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Balance this equation:
Fe(s) + O2(g) ? Fe2O3(s)
Express your answer as a chemical equation. Identify all of the phases in your answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Correct Answer and Explanation is:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Balanced Chemical Equation:<\/strong> 4Fe(s)+3O2(g)\u21922Fe2O3(s)4Fe(s) + 3O_2(g) \\rightarrow 2Fe_2O_3(s)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Explanation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Balancing chemical equations is essential for reflecting the Law of Conservation of Mass, which states that matter cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical reaction. This means the number of atoms of each element must be the same on both sides of the equation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the given reaction: Fe(s)+O2(g)\u2192Fe2O3(s)\\text{Fe(s)} + \\text{O}_2\\text{(g)} \\rightarrow \\text{Fe}_2\\text{O}_3\\text{(s)}<\/p>\n\n\n\n

we are reacting elemental iron (Fe<\/strong>, a solid) with diatomic oxygen gas (O\u2082<\/strong>, a gas) to produce iron(III) oxide (Fe\u2082O\u2083<\/strong>, a solid).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step-by-step balancing:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Write the unbalanced formula:<\/strong> Fe(s)+O2(g)\u2192Fe2O3(s)\\text{Fe}(s) + \\text{O}_2(g) \\rightarrow \\text{Fe}_2O_3(s)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Balance Fe atoms:<\/strong>
    On the right side, Fe\u2082O\u2083<\/strong> contains 2 iron atoms. So we need 4 iron atoms on the left to make two formula units of Fe\u2082O\u2083: 4Fe(s)+O2(g)\u21922Fe2O3(s)4Fe(s) + O_2(g) \\rightarrow 2Fe_2O_3(s)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Balance O atoms:<\/strong>
    The product side now has 2 \u00d7 3 = 6<\/strong> oxygen atoms (because 2 Fe\u2082O\u2083 units each contain 3 O atoms). So, to get 6 oxygen atoms from O\u2082 molecules, we need 3 O\u2082 molecules<\/strong>: 4Fe(s)+3O2(g)\u21922Fe2O3(s)4Fe(s) + 3O_2(g) \\rightarrow 2Fe_2O_3(s)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Now, both sides have:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • 4 iron (Fe) atoms<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • 6 oxygen (O) atoms<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Phases:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      • Fe(s):<\/strong> solid iron<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • O\u2082(g):<\/strong> oxygen gas<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Fe\u2082O\u2083(s):<\/strong> solid iron(III) oxide<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        This balanced equation accurately represents the synthesis of iron(III) oxide (rust) from iron and oxygen, a common reaction seen in corrosion processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Balance this equation:Fe(s) + O2(g) ? Fe2O3(s)Express your answer as a chemical equation. Identify all of the phases in your answer. The Correct Answer and Explanation is: Balanced Chemical Equation: 4Fe(s)+3O2(g)\u21922Fe2O3(s)4Fe(s) + 3O_2(g) \\rightarrow 2Fe_2O_3(s) Explanation Balancing chemical equations is essential for reflecting the Law of Conservation of Mass, which states that matter cannot be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-221066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221066\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}