Question

Write word equations for the following skeletal equation:
${\text{Na}} + {{\text{O}}_2} \to {\text{N}}{{\text{a}}_2}{\text{O}}$

Answer 1

Hint:A skeletal equation is an unbalanced chemical equation which shows only the chemical formulas of the reactants and products but does not indicate their relative amounts in the reaction. A word equation is a chemical reaction in which we write only the names of the reactants and products but not any chemical formulae and their amounts.

Complete step by step solution:
A skeletal equation is a method to indicate the chemicals that are taking part in the reaction. It does not take into account the amounts of the chemicals. Thus, in a way, it is identical to a word equation except that we write the chemical symbols of the reactants and products in place of their names.Generally in a skeletal equation, the physical states of the chemicals are also mentioned as subscripts after writing the chemical formula. Solid state is denoted by using (s), liquid state by (l), an aqueous solution by (aq) and gaseous state by (g) written to the right hand side of the chemical. This increases the value of a skeletal equation.
In the given question, the skeletal equation is given as, ${\text{Na}} + {{\text{O}}_2} \to {\text{N}}{{\text{a}}_2}{\text{O}}$.
The reactants in the reaction are sodium and oxygen and the product formed is sodium oxide.
Thus we can write the word equation as,
Sodium $ + $ Oxygen $ \to $ Sodium oxide

Note:
Chemical reactions are solely a result of the rearrangement of atoms, and thus the law of conservation of mass must be followed. To follow the law of conservation of mass, coefficients are added before the chemical formulas to balance the chemical equation, meaning that the same quantities of each kind of atom are present on each side of the equation.