Question

Write balanced chemical equations for the following word equation:
\[{\text{Nitrogen + Oxygen}} \to {\text{Nitric oxide}}\]

Answer 1

Hint: A balanced chemical equation follows the law of conservation of mass. Thus we need to make the ratio of the number of reactants and number of products the same.

Complete step by step answer:
-While balancing a chemical equation, we need to determine the ratio of reactants to products which allows for the total number of atoms of reactants to match the number of atoms of the products.
- Since the type of atoms does not change and the number of atoms stays that same, the total mass that goes into the chemical change will match the mass that comes out after the change. So, the law of conservation of mass is the principle behind balancing a chemical equation.
-The given word equation is \[{\text{Nitrogen + Oxygen}} \to {\text{Nitric oxide}}\].
Thus, first we need to write the Chemical formula for the compound.
Nitrogen = ${{\text{N}}_{\text{2}}}$
Oxygen = ${{\text{O}}_{\text{2}}}$
Nitric Oxide = ${\text{NO}}$
-Next, we need to replace these chemical formulae in the word equation, we get,
${{\text{N}}_{\text{2}}}{\text{ + }}{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}}} \to {\text{NO}}$
-This type of representation is called the skeleton equation. Now we can see that in reactants, the number of nitrogen atoms is 2 and the number of oxygen atoms is 2 whereas in product, number of nitrogen atoms is 1 and number of oxygen atoms is 1. So, there is a need for balancing the equation.
${{\text{N}}_{\text{2}}}{\text{ + }}{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}}} \to {\text{2NO}}$
The above chemical equation is a balanced chemical equation.

Additional Information:
Nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (\[{\text{N}}{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}}}\]) are two gases whose molecules are made of nitrogen and oxygen atoms. These nitrogen oxides contribute to the problem of air pollution, playing roles in the formation of both smog and acid rain. They are released into Earth's atmosphere by both natural and human-generated sources.

Note:
A chemical equation which does not follow the law of conservation of mass is called the skeleton equation. Any chemical equation must be balanced and obey the law of conservation of mass.