To balance the given reaction equation, you need to ensure that the number of atoms for each element is the same on both sides of the reaction.
The unbalanced equation you provided is:
\[ 4 \text{NaCl} + 2 \text{SO}_2 + 4 \text{H}_2\text{O} + \text{O}_2 \rightarrow \text{Na}_2\text{SO}_4 + 4 \text{HCl} \]
Let's break it down step by step.
- Count the number of atoms on the reactants and products side.
- Adjust coefficients to balance the number of each type of atom on both sides.
Reactants:
- Sodium (Na): 4 (from 4 NaCl)
- Chlorine (Cl): 4 (from 4 NaCl)
- Sulfur (S): 2 (from 2 SO2)
- Oxygen (O): 2 (from SO2) + 4 (from 4 H2O) + 2 (from O2) = 8
- Hydrogen (H): 8 (from 4 H2O)
Products:
- Sodium (Na): 2 (from Na2SO4)
- Chlorine (Cl): 4 (from 4 HCl)
- Sulfur (S): 1 (from Na2SO4)
- Oxygen (O): 4 (from Na2SO4) + 4 (from 4 HCl) = 8
- Hydrogen (H): 4 (from 4 HCl)
Balancing Process:
- To balance Sodium (Na), you currently have 4 on the reactants side and 2 on the products side. This means you need 2 Na2SO4, so you adjust the coefficient in front of Na2SO4.
- The balanced equation will read: \[ 4 \text{NaCl} + 2 \text{SO}_2 + 4 \text{H}_2\text{O} + 0.5 \text{O}_2 \rightarrow 2 \text{Na}_2\text{SO}_4 + 4 \text{HCl} \]
Final Equation:
\[ 4 \text{NaCl} + 2 \text{SO}_2 + 4 \text{H}_2\text{O} + \text{O}_2 \rightarrow 2 \text{Na}_2\text{SO}_4 + 4 \text{HCl} \]
Where:
- 4 Na from NaCl balances with 2 Na2SO4.
- 4 Cl from NaCl balances with 4 HCl.
- 2 S from SO2 balances with 2 Na2SO4.
- All O and H also balance.
If you're supposed to select numbers from a dropdown box, the coefficients for balancing would ideally be:
4 for NaCl, 2 for SO2, 4 for H2O, 1 for O2, 2 for Na2SO4, 4 for HCl.
If you have those dropdown options, you would select exactly these coefficients to ensure the equation balances correctly.
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