Question

Methane burns in oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water. Which of the tollowing represents a preliminary, unbalanced equation with the correct chemical formulas?

Answer 1

So first we need to know what the formulas are:

Methane: $CH_{4}$

Oxygen: $O_{2}$

Carbon Dioxide: $CO_{2}$

Water: $H_{2}O$

So then we follow the equation as specified in the question. Note that it does not need to be balanced, as the question states it wants the unbalanced equation:

$CH_{4}+O_{2}$ → $CO_{2}+H_{2}O$

This is the preliminary, unbalanced equation with the correct chemical formulas.