Question

Write balanced and informative chemical equation for the following

Calcium carbonate decomposes into calcium oxide and carbon dioxide when heated.

Answer 1

• Balanced equation: the chemical equation in which the number of atoms of each element on the reactant side as well as the product side are equal is known as a balanced equation.

Balancing the following chemical equation:

${\mathrm{CaCO}}_3\stackrel{∆}{\to }\mathrm{CaO}+{\mathrm{CO}}_2$

$∆$$\to$heating symbol

Steps to balance the chemical equation:

• Count the number of atoms of each element on either side. Now first balance the compound with the maximum number of atoms

A number of atoms of each element on the reactant side:

$\underset{\mathrm{calcium}}{\mathrm{Ca}}=1,\underset{\mathrm{carbon}}{\mathrm{C}}=1,\underset{\mathrm{oxygen}}{\mathrm{O}}=3$

A number of atoms of each element on the product side:

$\underset{\mathrm{calcium}}{\mathrm{Ca}}=1,\underset{\mathrm{carbon}}{\mathrm{C}}=1,\underset{\mathrm{oxygen}}{\mathrm{O}}=3$

In the above equation, all atoms of the reactant and product side are equal i.e.

$\underset{\mathrm{calcium}\mathrm{carbonate}}{{\mathrm{CaCO}}_3\left(\mathrm{s}\right)}\stackrel{∆}{\to }\underset{\mathrm{calcium}\mathrm{oxide}}{\mathrm{CaO}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{carbon}\mathrm{dioxide}}{{\mathrm{CO}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}$

Thus the above equation is a balanced equation and informative reaction.

It describes the physical state of the reactant and products.

It tells us about the number of atoms of reactants and products.