Question

How do you balance this: Br2 + H2O + SO2 = HBr + H2SO4

Answer 1

Answer:

Br2+ 2H2O + SO2= 2HBr + H2SO4

Let's Compare the left side of the equation to the right side of the equation.

Left: Br= 2, H= 2, S= 1, O = 1+2

Right: Br=1, H= 1+2, S=1, O= 4

We can see that only S is balanced and not the other 3 elements.

I'll try to make each element balance.

For Br; I'll multiply by 2 on the left to make it equal to the right.

For H; Since the 2 for Br on the right affected also H, that H ( for HBr) Already has a 2, but then it adds with the other H2( for H2SO4) to give a total of 4 H on the right side. But then there's only 2 H on the left. so we multiply that 2 by a 2 ( which is written infront of the H2O to give a total of 4 H on the left side.

For O; Because of the 2 infront of the H2O, it affects the O in H2O..so now we have 2 O plus the 2 O ( in SO2) to give a total of 4 O which is equal to the right side.