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2Na + 2H2O → NaOH + H2

Fill in the blank with only a whole number to balance the chemical equation

1 Answer

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Answer:

2Na + 2H2O → 2NaOH + H2

Step-by-step explanation:

The chemical equation shown is describing a reaction between sodium (Na) and water (H2O). In the reaction, two molecules of sodium and two molecules of water react to form sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and hydrogen gas (H2). However, the equation is not balanced, meaning the number of atoms of each element is not equal on both sides of the reaction.

To balance the equation, we need to ensure that the number of atoms of each element is the same on both sides. In this case, we can see that there are two sodium atoms and two oxygen atoms on the left side, but only one each on the right side. We can balance the sodium and oxygen atoms by adding a coefficient of 2 in front of NaOH:

2Na + 2H2O → 2NaOH + H2

Now we have two sodium atoms, four hydrogen atoms, and two oxygen atoms on both sides of the equation, which means it is balanced. The final equation represents a chemical reaction in which two molecules of sodium react with two molecules of water to produce two molecules of sodium hydroxide and one molecule of hydrogen gas.

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