Chemical word equations to skeleton? (chemistry)

Hailzz · #1 Oct 20, 2009, 06:27 PM

I'm suppost to be turning chem word equations into skeleton equations. Am I doing it right?

1.aqueous barium nitrate reacts with sulfuric acid to yield a barium sulfate precipitate and nitric acid.
BaN(aq)+H2SO4(aq)->BaSO4(s)+HNO3(aq)

Perito · Oct 20, 2009, 08:10 PM

Quote:

1.aqueous barium nitrate reacts with sulfuric acid to yield a barium sulfate precipitate and nitric acid.
BaN(aq)+H2SO4(aq)->BaSO4(s)+HNO3(aq)

Not too bad, except for the "BaN" (that's not a known compound).

Do it this way. First, write down the chemical formula for each of the reactants and products:

Barium nitrate = $Ba(NO_3)_2$

Sulfuric Acid = $H_2SO_4$

Barium Sulfate = $BaSO_4$

Then write and balance an equation.

$Ba(NO_3)_2 + H_2SO_4 \rightarrow BaSO_4 + 2\, HNO_3$

Recognize that nitrate is $NO_3^-$ , Barium is $Ba^{2+}$ , sulfate is $SO_4^{2-}$ and hydrogen is $H^+$ . Once you recognize that all you're doing is changing these four ions around, it becomes trivial to balance the equation -- just balance the charges.