Question

Write the balanced equation for burning of natural gas

Answer 1

Balanced chemical equation: A balanced chemical equation is the representation of a chemical reaction in which the number of atoms of each element is the same on both the reactant and product sides.

Burning of natural gas:

• Methane $\left({\mathrm{CH}}_4\right)$ is a hydrocarbon known as Natural gas.
• Any Hydrocarbon when burned in presence of air produces water and Carbon dioxide$\left({\mathrm{CO}}_2\right)$
• When natural gas burns, a high-temperature blue flame is produced and complete combustion takes place. Methane is burnt in oxygen (air) to produce heat, Carbon dioxide, and water.
• The skeletal chemical equation is

$\underset{\mathrm{Methane}}{{\mathrm{CH}}_4\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Oxygen}}{{\mathrm{O}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}\to \underset{\mathrm{Carbon}\mathrm{dioxide}}{{\mathrm{CO}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Water}}{{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}$

Step 1: Write the number of atoms of each element

$\underset{\mathrm{Methane}}{{\mathrm{CH}}_4\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Oxygen}}{{\mathrm{O}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}\to \underset{\mathrm{Carbon}\mathrm{dioxide}}{{\mathrm{CO}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Water}}{{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}$

Element	Reactant side	Product Side
$\mathrm{C}$	$1$	$1$
$\mathrm{O}$	$2$	$3$
$\mathrm{H}$	$4$	$2$

• From the table, it is clear that the Atoms of Hydrogen and Oxygen are not balanced.

Step 2: Balancing the unbalanced atoms

• In order to balance the equation, we will make the coefficient of ${\mathrm{O}}_2\mathrm{and}{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}$ as $2$
• Now the equation becomes

$\underset{\mathrm{Methane}}{{\mathrm{CH}}_4\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Oxygen}}{2{\mathrm{O}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}\to \underset{\mathrm{Carbon}\mathrm{dioxide}}{{\mathrm{CO}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Water}}{2{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}$

Element	Reactant side	Product Side
$\mathrm{C}$	$1$	$1$
$\mathrm{O}$	$4$	$4$
$\mathrm{H}$	$4$	$2$

Hence, the balanced chemical equation is $\underset{\mathrm{Methane}}{{\mathrm{CH}}_4\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Oxygen}}{2{\mathrm{O}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}\to \underset{\mathrm{Carbon}\mathrm{dioxide}}{{\mathrm{CO}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Water}}{2{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}$