Question

Balance the chemical equation

__H2O -> __ H2 + __ O2

Answer 1

2 H₂O → 2 H₂ + 1 O₂

Step-by-step explanation:

There are 2 hydrogen atoms on both the sides of the equation. However there is 1 oxygen atom on the left side and 2 oxygen atoms on the right side. So we multiply the 1 atom with 2 to get two oxygen atoms. The equation would look like this:

2 H₂O → 1 H₂ + 1 O₂

Now if you check whether both the sides has equal number of elements, on the left side hydrogen has 4 hydrogen atoms and the right side has 2. Therefore we multiply it with 2 because that gives 4. Thus the equation is balanced.