Final answer:
The balanced chemical equation for the nitration of toluene with nitric acid to produce dinitrotoluene should consider the addition of two NO2 groups and the formation of water as a byproduct. It should involve two molecules of HNO3 for each molecule of toluene, but the available options do not accurately reflect the complete balanced equation.
Step-by-step explanation:
The chemical equation presented in the question is a nitration reaction, where HNO3 (nitric acid) reacts with C6H5CH3 (methylbenzene, also known as toluene) to produce C6H2(NO2)2CH3-C6H2, a dinitrotoluene compound. To balance the equation, we must ensure that the number of atoms for each element on the reactants side is equal to the number of atoms for that element on the products side.
Since the reaction is about nitration, and we can see that there are two NO2 groups added to the original C6H5CH3 compound, we can deduce that two molecules of HNO3 are required. Hence, the balanced equation is:
2 HNO3 + C6H5CH3 = C6H2(NO2)2CH3 + 3 H2O
Here, two nitro groups (NO2) are added to the toluene, and three water molecules (H2O) are formed as a byproduct. Therefore, the correct answer from the options provided would be closest to letter 'B' if we also account for the water produced, although it is not correctly written as none of the options presented fully account for the correct products or the stoichiometry involved.