View Full Version : Balancing Equations *sorry*
 
 shortstuff001
Mar 24, 2009, 09:19 PM
I have to balance this equation and I seem to be having problems
Ammonia reacts with oxygen gas to produce nitrogen monoxide gas and water
I have
NH3 + O2 ----> NO +H2O 
I can't seem to balance it.
Thank you in advance
 dukeanakin
Mar 24, 2009, 09:58 PM
I think I got it... tell me if its any help... :)
 
4NH3 + 5O2 ----> 4NO + 6H2O
 shortstuff001
Mar 24, 2009, 10:46 PM
Omg thank you so much
 Unknown008
Mar 26, 2009, 02:18 AM
Ok, let me explain how you can get to that: 
 
4NH3 + 5O2 ----> 4NO + 6H2O
 
from that:
 
NH3 + O2 ----> NO +H2O 
 
First , N is balanced. See for H now. Put a 2 in front if NH3, a 3 in front of the H2O and a 2 in front of the NO to balance the 2NH3 and NO:
 
2NH3 + O2 ----> 2NO + 3H2O 
 
Now see how much O is there... 2 on the LHS and 5. You need to put 2.5 in front of the O2 to balance the equation:
 
2NH3 + 2.5O2 ----> 2NO + 3H2O 
 
Now to remove fractions, multiply everything by 2 to give
 
4NH3 + 5O2 ----> 4NO + 6H2O