Question

Rosa was looking for patterns to help predict the products of chemical reactions. She recorded three similar decomposition reactions in the table. The first column labeled reactants has entries 2 NaClO₃, 2 KClO₃, 2 LiClO₃. The second column labeled products has entries 2 NaCl₃O₂, 3 O₂ 2 KCl, _______. What products should she record in the last row of the table?

Answer 1

The expected products for the decomposition of 2 LiClO3 are 2 LiCl and 3 O2, following the pattern of chlorate decomposition and molar stoichiometry to ensure a balanced chemical equation.

Step-by-step explanation:

Rosa was observing patterns in decomposition reactions to predict chemical reaction products. In the first two reactions, the chlorates of sodium and potassium decomposed to produce chlorides and oxygen gas. Therefore, for the decomposition of 2 LiClO₃, we can expect a similar pattern where lithium chloride and oxygen are produced. Applying the knowledge of molar stoichiometry and balancing chemical equations, the expected products in the last row of the table should be 2 LiCl and 3 O₂. This follows the pattern where the metal chlorate decomposes into the metal chloride and oxygen gas, and it ensures that both the reactants and products are balanced in terms of atoms.