Question

A student writes this chemical equation. You see that it is incorrect as written.

1N2 +4H2 → 2NH3 + 1H2

1 diatomic nitrogen (1N2
) and 4 diatomic hydrogen (4H2
) produce 2 ammonia (2NH3
) with 1 diatomic hydrogen (1H2
) left over. How can you correct the equation?

(1 point)
Responses

Remove a H2
molecule from both the left and right sides of the equation.
Remove a h sub 2 molecule from both the left and right sides of the equation.

Remove a H2
molecule from the left side of the equation.
Remove a h sub 2 molecule from the left side of the equation.

Add another N2
molecule to the left side of the equation.
Add another n sub 2 molecule to the left side of the equation.

Remove a NH3
molecule from the right side of the equation.

Answers

GPT-4o mini
To correct the given equation, we need to balance the number of atoms on both sides. The original equation is:

\[ 1N_2 + 4H_2 \rightarrow 2NH_3 + 1H_2 \]

If we look at the products on the right side, we have 2 moles of ammonia (NH3), which requires 2 moles of nitrogen (N) and 6 moles of hydrogen (H), plus 1 mole of leftover diatomic hydrogen (H2).

On the left side, there is only 1 mole of nitrogen (from N2) and 4 moles of hydrogen (from H2), totaling only 4 hydrogen atoms.

Thus, to balance the equation properly, the correct balanced equation should be:

\[ N_2 + 3H_2 \rightarrow 2NH_3 \]

This shows that 1 mole of nitrogen reacts with 3 moles of hydrogen to produce 2 moles of ammonia, with no hydrogen left over.

Given the provided responses, the correct choice would be:

**Remove a H2 molecule from both the left and right sides of the equation.**

However, the best course of action is clarifying that instead of having leftover hydrogen, we simply need to balance the reactants properly to arrive at the proper stoichiometry.

Related Questions