Answer:
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Step-by-step explanation:
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Explanation:
H
2
+
O
2
→
H
2
O
Notice the imbalance of atoms. On the left side, the reactant side, there are
2
hydrogen atoms and
2
oxygen atoms. On the right side, the product side, there are
2
hydrogen atoms and only
1
oxygen atom.
An important thing to remember when balancing equations is that the molecules themselves may not be changed—only their coefficients can. For example, we can change
H
2
O
to
3
H
2
O
but we can't go from
H
2
O
to
H
3
O
.
In order to deal with the original imbalance, the
2
oxygens on the left and
1
on the right, we can change the coefficient of the
H
2
O
molecule from
1
to
2
.
H
2
+
O
2
→
2
H
2
O
Now we have the same amount of oxygens on each side,
2
, but we have an unequal amount of hydrogen—there are
2
on the left and
4
on the right. We should achieve the least common multiple of the existing numbers, which is
4
. We can make the
H
2
on the left have a coefficient of
2
, giving us the
4
hydrogens that we need on that side of the equation, to match the
4
on the right.
2
H
2
+
O
2
→
2
H
2
O