To balance the chemical reaction [tex]\( Fe + O_2 \rightarrow Fe_2O_3 \)[/tex]:
1. Identify the number of atoms of each element in the reactants and products:
- Reactants:
- Fe has 1 atom.
- [tex]\( O_2 \)[/tex] has 2 oxygen atoms.
- Products:
- [tex]\( Fe_2O_3 \)[/tex] has 2 iron atoms and 3 oxygen atoms.
2. Balancing the iron (Fe) atoms:
- On the product side, we have 2 iron atoms per formula unit of [tex]\( Fe_2O_3 \)[/tex].
- To balance the iron atoms on the reactant side, we need 4 iron atoms:
[tex]\[
4 Fe + O_2 \rightarrow 2 Fe_2O_3
\][/tex]
Now we have 4 iron atoms on both sides.
3. Balancing the oxygen (O) atoms:
- On the reactant side, we have [tex]\( O_2 \)[/tex], each molecule containing 2 oxygen atoms. [tex]\( O_2 \)[/tex] times 3 gives us 6 oxygen atoms.
- On the product side, each molecule of [tex]\( Fe_2O_3 \)[/tex] contains 3 oxygen atoms, and we have 2 [tex]\( Fe_2O_3 \)[/tex] molecules, giving us [tex]\( 2 \times 3 = 6 \)[/tex] oxygen atoms.
Thus, the balanced equation becomes:
[tex]\[
4 Fe + 3 O_2 \rightarrow 2 Fe_2O_3
\][/tex]
Comparing the balanced equation with the given options:
A. [tex]\(4 Fe + 3 O_2 \rightarrow 2 Fe_2O_3\)[/tex]
We see that option A is the correct balanced equation for the given reaction. Thus, the correct answer is:
Answer: A.
