Question

how do I balance this equation? Sodium phosphate reacts with sulfuric acid to form sodium sulfate and phosphoric acid

Answer 1

Answer: The balanced equation is given below:

Explanation:

To balance a chemical equation, we follow law of conservation of mass.

This law states that the total number of individual atoms on reactant side must be equal to the total number of individual atoms on the product side.

The equation for the reaction of sodium phosphate and sulfuric acid follows:

$2Na_3PO_4+3H_2SO_4\rightarrow 3Na_2SO_4+2H_3PO_4$

On reactant side:

Number of sodium atoms: 6

Number of sulfur atoms: 3

Number of hydrogen atoms: 6

Number of oxygen atoms: 20

Number of phosphorous atoms: 2

On product side:

Number of sodium atoms: 6

Number of sulfur atoms: 3

Number of hydrogen atoms: 6

Number of oxygen atoms: 20

Number of phosphorous atoms: 2

As, the number of individual atoms on both the sides of the reaction are equal. Therefore this equation is balanced and follow law of conservation of mass.