Question 13 Marks
Balance the following equation,
$
Fe+H_2 O \longrightarrow Fe_3 O_4+H_2
$
$
Fe+H_2 O \longrightarrow Fe_3 O_4+H_2
$
Answer
View full question & answer→Step (i): Write the skeleton of equation : $Fe + H _2 O \longrightarrow Fe _3 O _4+ H _2$
Step (ii): Changing the $H _2$ to its nascent form $2[ H ]$.
$
Fe+H_2 O \longrightarrow Fe_3 O_4+2 H
$
Step (iii): $Fe _3 O _4$ has the largest number of atoms. The balance this, multiply $H _2 O$ by 4 to balance oxygen atoms. In 4 molecules of $H _2 O$, there are 8 atoms of H which are balanced by multiplying H on the RHS by 8 .
$
3 Fe+4 H_2 O \longrightarrow Fe_3 O_4+8 H
$
Step (iv): Converting $[ H ]$ to its molecule form $H _2$.
$
3 Fe+4 H_2 O \longrightarrow Fe_3 O_4+4 H_2
$
The equation obtained is a balanced chemical equation.
Step (ii): Changing the $H _2$ to its nascent form $2[ H ]$.
$
Fe+H_2 O \longrightarrow Fe_3 O_4+2 H
$
Step (iii): $Fe _3 O _4$ has the largest number of atoms. The balance this, multiply $H _2 O$ by 4 to balance oxygen atoms. In 4 molecules of $H _2 O$, there are 8 atoms of H which are balanced by multiplying H on the RHS by 8 .
$
3 Fe+4 H_2 O \longrightarrow Fe_3 O_4+8 H
$
Step (iv): Converting $[ H ]$ to its molecule form $H _2$.
$
3 Fe+4 H_2 O \longrightarrow Fe_3 O_4+4 H_2
$
The equation obtained is a balanced chemical equation.