Question

Write the balanced chemical equation for the following word equation

$\mathrm{Ammonia}+\mathrm{Oxygen}=\mathrm{Nitric}\mathrm{oxide}+\mathrm{Water}$

Answer 1

Balanced chemical equation

• A balanced equation involves an equal number of atoms for each element on the reactant and product side.

Chemical reaction of Ammonia with Oxygen:

• When gaseous ammonia reacts with gaseous oxygen at high temperatures it will give Nitric oxide and water in the gaseous form.
• Following is a general equation for the reaction

$$\begin{gathered} {\mathrm{NH}}_3\left(\mathrm{g}\right)+{\mathrm{O}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)\to \mathrm{NO}\left(\mathrm{g}\right)+{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{g}\right) \\ \left(\mathrm{Ammonia}\right)\left(\mathrm{oxygen}\right)(\mathrm{Nitric}\mathrm{oxide})(\mathrm{water}\mathrm{vapor}) \end{gathered}$$

Balancing the equation

• Check how many atoms are present on each side of the reaction

$\mathrm{Chemical}\mathrm{element}$	$\mathrm{L}.\mathrm{H}.\mathrm{S}.$	$\mathrm{R}.\mathrm{H}.\mathrm{S}.$
Nitrogen $\left(\mathrm{N}\right)$	$1$	$1$
Oxygen $\left(\mathrm{O}\right)$	$2$	$2$
Hydrogen $\left(\mathrm{H}\right)$	$3$	$2$

• Add coefficient in front of the formula so that manner the number of atoms of each element is the same on both sides

$\mathrm{Chemical}\mathrm{element}$	$\mathrm{L}.\mathrm{H}.\mathrm{S}.$	$\mathrm{R}.\mathrm{H}.\mathrm{S}.$
Nitrogen$\left(\mathrm{N}\right)$	$(1\times 4)=4$	$(1\times 4)=4$
Oxygen $\left(\mathrm{O}\right)$	$(5\times 2)=10$	$(6\times 1)+(4\times 1)=10$
Hydrogen $\left(\mathrm{H}\right)$	$(4\times 3)=12$	$(6\times 2)=12$

$4{\mathrm{NH}}_3\left(\mathrm{g}\right)+5{\mathrm{O}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)\to 4\mathrm{NO}\left(\mathrm{g}\right)+6{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{g}\right)$

• The balanced equation for the reaction is

$4{\mathrm{NH}}_3\left(\mathrm{g}\right)+5{\mathrm{O}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)\to 4\mathrm{NO}\left(\mathrm{g}\right)+6{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{g}\right)$