Balance the equation CH3CL+O2 ---> CO2+H2O+CL2
1 Answer
mwmovr40 | College Teacher | (Level 1) Associate Educator
To balance a chemical equation, one must keep track of the atoms on each side of the equation as you change the coefficients in front of each component.
Initially CH3Cl + O2 ----> CO2 + H2O + Cl2 has
Reactants Products
C one C one
Cl one Cl two
H three H two
O two O two + one = three
If we balance the Chlorine first by multiplying the CH3CL by 2 we get
2CH3Cl + O2 -----> CO2 + H2O + Cl2
Reactants Product
C two one
Cl two two
H six two
O two two + one = three
We then balance the Carbon by multiplying the CO2 by 2 and the Hydrogen by multiplying H2O by 3
2CH3Cl + O2 ----> 2CO2 + 3 H2O + Cl2
Reactants Products
C two two
Cl two two
H six six
O 2 four + three = 7
We can now balance the oxygen by multiplying the O2 by 7/2
2CH3Cl + 7/2 O2 ----> 2CO2 + 3H2O + Cl2
However, we cannot have a fractional coefficient, so we eliminate the fraction by multiplying each component by a factor of 2
4CH3Cl + 7O2 ----> 4CO2 + 6H2O + 2Cl2
Reactants Products
C 4 4
H 12 12
Cl 4 4
O 14 8 + 6 = 14