Question

Write the chemical equation for the chemical reaction shown in the illustration. In the illustration:

• The black sphere represents a carbon atom.​​
• The white sphere represents a hydrogen atom.
• The grey sphere represents an oxygen atom.

Answer 1

There are two reactants in the given reaction. The first reactant contains one carbon atom and 4 hydrogen atoms, so it is a methane molecule(CH₄). The other reactant contains 2 molecules each containing two atoms of oxygen, so it is oxygen(i.e. 2O₂). On the product side, the first product contains one carbon and two oxygen, so it is carbon dioxide(i.e. CO₂). The other product contains 2 molecules each containing 2 atoms of oxygen and one atom of hydrogen, so it is water(i.e. 2H₂O).

Following reaction is the example of the combustion reaction, the equation for the same can be written as,

${\mathrm{CH}}_4\left(\mathrm{g}\right)+2{\mathrm{O}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)\to {\mathrm{CO}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)+2{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)$