Question

Akia is balancing the equation Na + H2O NaOH + H2. He tries to find the coefficients that will balance the equation.

Answer 1

Answer;

A: by counting up each individual atom and make sure the atom numbers are the same in the reactants and the products

Explanation;

• According to the law of conservation of mass, the mass of reactants should always be the same as the mass of the products in a chemical equation. Therefore, the number of atoms of each element in a chemical equation should always be the same on both sides of the equation, that is the side of reactants and side of products.

• Thus, any chemical equation requires balancing to ensure that the number of atoms of each element is equal in both sides of the equation. Balancing is a try and error process that ensures that the law of conservation of mass holds.

• In this case, the balanced equation would be;                                               2Na +2H₂O → 2NaOH +H₂

Answer 2

Answer : The correct option is, (A) by counting up each individual atom and make sure the atom numbers are the same in the reactants and the products

Explanation :

According to the law of conservation of mass, the mass remains conserved that means the total number of atoms present on the reactant side should always be equal to the number of atoms present on the product side.

The given unbalanced reaction is,

$Na+H_2O\rightarrow NaOH+H_2$

The number of atoms of hydrogen are 2 on reactant side and 3 atoms of hydrogen on product side. Thus equation is not balanced.

The balanced reaction will be,

$2Na+2H_2O\rightarrow 2NaOH+H_2$

Hence, the correct option is, (A)