Question

Natural gas or methane is a fossil fuel. In a plentiful supply of air, it burns to give carbon dioxide and water. Write a balanced equation to show this.

Answer 1

Answer:

$CH_4 + 2O_2 --> CO_2 + 2H_2O$

Explanation:

The chemical formula for methane is $CH_4$

The chemical formula for oxygen is $O_2$

The chemical formula for carbon dioxide is $CO_2$

The chemical formula for water is $H_2O$

Methane burns in oxygen to give carbon dioxide and water:

$CH_4 + O_2 --> CO_2 + H_2O$

The balanced equation that will ensure an equal number of each atom on the left and right-hand sides of the equation would be:

$CH_4 + 2O_2 --> CO_2 + 2H_2O$