Sure! Let's balance the given chemical equation step-by-step.
The given equation is:
[tex]$Ca_2 + O_2 \rightarrow CaO$[/tex]
### Step 1: Write the unbalanced equation with individual elements.
The reactants and products are:
- Reactants:
- [tex]\(Ca_2\)[/tex] (Calcium)
- [tex]\(O_2\)[/tex] (Oxygen)
- Products:
- [tex]\(CaO\)[/tex] (Calcium oxide)
### Step 2: Count the number of atoms of each element on both sides.
- Left side (Reactants):
- Calcium (Ca): [tex]\(2\)[/tex] atoms (from [tex]\(Ca_2\)[/tex])
- Oxygen (O): [tex]\(2\)[/tex] atoms (from [tex]\(O_2\)[/tex])
- Right side (Products):
- Calcium (Ca): [tex]\(1\)[/tex] atom (from [tex]\(CaO\)[/tex])
- Oxygen (O): [tex]\(1\)[/tex] atom (from [tex]\(CaO\)[/tex])
### Step 3: Balance the equation.
To balance the equation, we need to make sure there are the same number of each type of atom on both sides of the equation.
1. Balance the calcium (Ca) atoms:
- There are 2 calcium atoms on the left side and 1 calcium atom on the right side.
- To balance the calcium atoms, we need 2 calcium atoms on the right side.
- Therefore, we place a coefficient of 2 in front of [tex]\(CaO\)[/tex] on the right side:
[tex]$Ca_2 + O_2 \rightarrow 2CaO$[/tex]
2. Balance the oxygen (O) atoms:
- There are 2 oxygen atoms on the left side and 2 oxygen atoms on the right side (since there are 2 molecules of [tex]\(CaO\)[/tex] and each has 1 oxygen atom).
- The oxygen atoms are already balanced.
### Step 4: Write the balanced chemical equation.
The balanced equation now is:
[tex]$2Ca + O_2 \rightarrow 2CaO$[/tex]
This indicates that 2 moles of calcium react with 1 mole of oxygen to produce 2 moles of calcium oxide.
