OK I have to balance chemical word equations. I got stuck on this one about making a skeleton equation.


heptane+oxygen------>carbon dioxide+water vapour


I got the formulas down but I don't know how to balance it. The formulas are

C7H16+O2------->CO2+H20(g)

how do I balance that?


thanks,

Courtney1816:)

By trial and error, until you get the same number of atoms on each hand side.

Start by putting '7' in front of the CO2 and '8' in front of the H2O to balance the heptane.

C7H16 + O2 ---> 7CO2 + 8H2O

You now have 2O on the LHS and 22O on the RHS. I think that you now can complete the balancing?