Question

What is the sum of the coefficients needed to balance the combustion reaction of methane?

Answer 1

Answer:  The sum of the coefficients needed to balance the combustion reaction of methane is 6.

Explanation:

Combustion is a chemical reaction in which hydrocarbons are burnt in the presence of oxygen to give carbon dioxide and water.

According to the law of conservation of mass, mass can neither be created nor be destroyed. Thus the mass of products has to be equal to the mass of reactants. The number of atoms of each element has to be same on reactant and product side. Thus chemical equations are balanced.

The chemical equation for combustion of methane will be :

$CH_4+2O_2\rightarrow CO_2+2H_2O$

The coefficient foer methane is 1 , 2 for oxygen , 1 for carbon dioxide and 2 for water. The sum is 6.