Question

Balance the combustion reaction between octane and oxygen. 2C8H18 + O2 → CO2 + H2O

Answer 1

Explanation:

A balanced reaction is a reaction where there are equal number of atoms on both reactant and product side.

For example, $2C_{8}H_{18} + O_{2} \rightarrow CO_{2} + H_{2}O$

Number of atoms on reactant side are as follows.

• C = 16

• H = 36

• O = 2

Number of atoms on product side are as follows.

• C = 1

• H = 2

• O = 3

Therefore, in order to balance the equation we multiply $O_{2}$ by 25 on reactant side and multiply $CO_{2}$ by 16 and $H_{2}O$ by 18.

Thus, the balanced chemical equation will be as follows.

       $2C_{8}H_{18} + 25O_{2} \rightarrow 16CO_{2} + 18H_{2}O$

Answer 2

The answer is 2C8H18 + 25O2 ⇒ 16CO2 + 18H2O<span />