When carbon dioxide is dissolved in an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide, the mixture reacts to yield aqueous sodium carbonate and liquid water. Write balanced molecular, complete ionic, and net ionic equations for this process.

Question

GPT-4o mini · Answer

To write the balanced molecular, complete ionic, and net ionic equations for the reaction between carbon dioxide (CO₂) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH), we start with the molecular equation.

1. Balanced Molecular Equation

The reaction between carbon dioxide and sodium hydroxide produces sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃) and water (H₂O). The balanced molecular equation is:

$C O_{2} (g) + 2 N a O H (a q) \to N a_{2} C O_{3} (a q) + H_{2} O (l)$

2. Complete Ionic Equation

In the complete ionic equation, we break down all the soluble strong electrolytes (strong acids, bases, and soluble salts) into their corresponding ions:

Sodium hydroxide dissociates into sodium ions (Na⁺) and hydroxide ions (OH⁻).
Sodium carbonate dissociates into sodium ions (Na⁺) and carbonate ions (CO₃²⁻).

So, the complete ionic equation is:

$C O_{2} (g) + 2 N a^{+} (a q) + 2 O H^{-} (a q) \to 2 N a^{+} (a q) + C O_{3}^{2 -} (a q) + H_{2} O (l)$

3. Net Ionic Equation

To find the net ionic equation, we remove the spectator ions (ions that appear on both sides of the equation unchanged). In this case, sodium ions (Na⁺) are spectator ions.

The net ionic equation is:

$C O_{2} (g) + 2 O H^{-} (a q) \to C O_{3}^{2 -} (a q) + H_{2} O (l)$

Summary

Balanced Molecular Equation: $C O_{2} (g) + 2 N a O H (a q) \to N a_{2} C O_{3} (a q) + H_{2} O (l)$
Complete Ionic Equation: $C O_{2} (g) + 2 N a^{+} (a q) + 2 O H^{-} (a q) \to 2 N a^{+} (a q) + C O_{3}^{2 -} (a q) + H_{2} O (l)$
Net Ionic Equation: $C O_{2} (g) + 2 O H^{-} (a q) \to C O_{3}^{2 -} (a q) + H_{2} O (l)$