Question

Which of these is the correct word equation for the reaction, 4 Fe (s) + 3O2 (g) → 2FeO3 (s)?

Answer 1

The correct answer is 
solid iron reacts with oxygen gas to form solid iron (III) oxide.
The state symbol (s) indicates that iron and iron oxide are in the solid state while the state symbol (g) indicates that oxygen gas is present in the gaseous state.
Moreover, the compound formed has iron (III) as the cation because two moles of iron (III) atoms bind with three moles of oxygen atoms.