Question

When the following equation is balanced with the lowest whole number coefficients possible, what is the coefficient in front of naoh? naoh h3po4 yields h2o na3po4 1 2 3 4

Answer 1

Answer: Option (c) is the correct answer.

Explanation:

An equation will be balanced when both number of reactants and products are equal.

The given equation is as follows.

  $NaOH + H_{3}PO_{4} \rightarrow H_{2}O + Na_{3}PO_{4}$

Number of reactants are as follows.

• Na = 1
• O = 5
• H = 4
• P = 1

Number of reactants are as follows.

• Na = 3
• O = 5
• H = 2
• P = 1

To balance the equation, multiply NaOH on the reactant side by 3 and $H_{2}O$ on the product side by 3.

Therefore, the equation will be as follows.

$3NaOH + H_{3}PO_{4} \rightarrow 3H_{2}O + Na_{3}PO_{4}$

The coefficient in front of NaOH is 3.

Answer 2

It looks like you are talking about this equation :
NaOH + H3PO4 ----> H2O + Na3PO4
If so, the the coefficient in front of naoh should be  3 acording to the balanced form of this equation $3 NaOH + H3PO4 ----\ \textgreater \ 3 H2O + Na3PO4$