Question

Balance the following equation:

$\mathrm{NaOH}+{\mathrm{H}}_2{\mathrm{SO}}_4\to {\mathrm{Na}}_2{\mathrm{SO}}_4+{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}$

Answer 1

Balanced chemical equation: A balanced chemical equation represent the equation in which the number of atom of each element is equal on both the reactant and product side.

Given reaction: $\underset{\mathrm{Sodium}\mathrm{hydroxide}}{\mathrm{NaOH}}+\underset{\mathrm{Sulphuric}\mathrm{acid}}{{\mathrm{H}}_2{\mathrm{SO}}_4}\to \underset{\mathrm{Sodium}\mathrm{sulphate}}{{\mathrm{Na}}_2{\mathrm{SO}}_4}+\underset{\mathrm{Water}}{{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}}$

Balancing of chemical reaction:

Step 1: Writing the number of atoms on each reactant and product side

Element	Number of atoms on the reactant side	Number of atoms on the product side
Na	1	2
O	5	5
H	3	2
S	1	1

Sodium (Na) and Hydrogen (H) are unbalanced in the above chemical reaction.

Step 2: Balancing the Hydrogen atoms

Multiply the Sodium hydroxide by 2 on the reactant side.

$\underset{\mathrm{Sodium}\mathrm{hydroxide}}{2\mathrm{NaOH}}+\underset{\mathrm{Sulphuric}\mathrm{acid}}{{\mathrm{H}}_2{\mathrm{SO}}_4}\to \underset{\mathrm{Sodium}\mathrm{sulphate}}{{\mathrm{Na}}_2{\mathrm{SO}}_4}+\underset{\mathrm{Water}}{{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}}$

Step 3: Balancing the oxygen atoms

Now, the Oxygen atoms are unbalanced. So, multiply water on the product side by 2.

$\underset{\mathrm{Sodium}\mathrm{hydroxide}}{2\mathrm{NaOH}}+\underset{\mathrm{Sulphuric}\mathrm{acid}}{{\mathrm{H}}_2{\mathrm{SO}}_4}\to \underset{\mathrm{Sodium}\mathrm{sulphate}}{{\mathrm{Na}}_2{\mathrm{SO}}_4}+\underset{\mathrm{Water}}{2{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}}$

Element	Number of atoms on the reactant side	Number of atoms on the product side
Na	2	2
O	6	6
H	4	4
S	1	1

All the elements have an equal number of atoms.

Thus, the balanced chemical equation is $\underset{\mathrm{Sodium}\mathrm{hydroxide}}{2\mathrm{NaOH}}+\underset{\mathrm{Sulphuric}\mathrm{acid}}{{\mathrm{H}}_2{\mathrm{SO}}_4}\to \underset{\mathrm{Sodium}\mathrm{sulphate}}{{\mathrm{Na}}_2{\mathrm{SO}}_4}+\underset{\mathrm{Water}}{2{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}}$