Question

Sodium chlorate, NaClO3, decomposes when heated to yield sodium chloride and oxygen, a reaction used to provide oxygen for the emergency breathing masks in many airliners. Balance the equation. Express your answer as a chemical equation.

Answer 1

The statement informs us that the sodium chlorate decomposes, which means that it is the only reactant that will be present. Moreover, the products of the decomposition are specified, so we first write the equation:

NaClO₃ → NaCl + O₂

Next, we balance the equation and finally get:

2NaClO₃ → 2NaCl + 3O₂