Let's balance the given chemical reaction step by step.
The reaction provided is:
[tex]\[ \text{H}_2\text{O}_2 \rightarrow \text{H}_2\text{O} + \text{O}_2 \][/tex]
### Step 1: Write down the number of atoms of each element on both sides of the equation.
- On the reactants side (\( \text{H}_2\text{O}_2 \)):
- Hydrogen (H): There are 2 hydrogen atoms in each molecule of \( \text{H}_2\text{O}_2 \).
- Oxygen (O): There are 2 oxygen atoms in each molecule of \( \text{H}_2\text{O}_2 \).
- On the products side (\( \text{H}_2\text{O} + \text{O}_2 \)):
- \( \text{H}_2\text{O} \): There are 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom.
- \( \text{O}_2 \): There are 2 oxygen atoms.
### Step 2: Count the total number of atoms of each element on both sides.
- Reactants:
- Hydrogen: \(2 \times 1 = 2 \) atoms
- Oxygen: \(2 \times 1 = 2 \) atoms
- Products:
- Hydrogen: \(2 \times 1 = 2 \) atoms (from \( \text{H}_2\text{O} \))
- Oxygen: \(1 \) atom from \( \text{H}_2\text{O} \) + \(2 \) atoms from \( \text{O}_2 \) = 1 + 2 = 3 atoms
### Step 3: Balance the number of atoms for each element.
1. To balance hydrogen atoms, we see that there are 2 hydrogen atoms on the reactant side and 2 on the product side, which is balanced.
2. To balance oxygen atoms, we see that there are 2 oxygen atoms on the reactant side and 3 on the product side, which is not balanced.
We need to balance the oxygens by adjusting the coefficients. We require a balanced equation:
[tex]\[ 2 \text{H}_2\text{O}_2 \rightarrow 2 \text{H}_2\text{O} + \text{O}_2 \][/tex]
### Step 4: Double-check the atoms for each element.
- Reactants:
- Hydrogen: \( 2 \times 2 = 4 \) atoms (from \( 2 \text{H}_2\text{O}_2 \))
- Oxygen: \( 2 \times 2 = 4 \) atoms (from \( 2 \text{H}_2\text{O}_2 \))
- Products:
- Hydrogen: \( 2 \times 2 = 4 \) atoms (from \( 2 \text{H}_2\text{O} \))
- Oxygen: \( 2 \times 1 = 2 \) atoms (from \( 2 \text{H}_2\text{O} \)) + \( 2 \) atoms (from \( \text{O}_2 \)) = 4 atoms
### Step 5: Confirm the balanced equation.
The total number of hydrogen atoms on both sides is 4, and the total number of oxygen atoms on both sides is 4. Hence, the equation is balanced.
### Conclusion
The balanced chemical equation is:
[tex]\[ 2\text{H}_2\text{O}_2 \rightarrow 2\text{H}_2\text{O} + \text{O}_2 \][/tex]
The number of each type of atom is:
- Reactant side: 4 hydrogen atoms and 4 oxygen atoms.
- Product side: 4 hydrogen atoms and 4 oxygen atoms.
Thus, the final balance ensures the same number of each atom on both the reactant and product sides, confirming the equation is balanced.
