Final answer:
After evaluating the provided chemical equations, only the equations labeled as 'b' and 'c' are balanced, while equation 'a' is not balanced due to an unequal number of oxygen atoms on each side.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine if each chemical equation is balanced, we need to assess whether there are equal numbers of each type of atom on both sides of the equation. Let's look at the equations:
- a. 2 Hg + O2 → Hg2O2 - This equation is not balanced because there are 2 mercury atoms on the left but the product has a combined Hg2 entity, which also represents 2 mercury atoms. However, the oxygen is not balanced as there is one O2 molecule on the left but two oxygen atoms on the right, suggesting this equation is already balanced.
- b. C2H4 + 2 O2 → 2 CO2 + 2 H2O - This equation is balanced with 2 carbon atoms and 4 hydrogen atoms on both sides, along with 4 oxygen atoms as reactants and products.
- c. Mg(NO3)2 + 2 Li → Mg + 2 LiNO3 - This equation is balanced since it has 1 magnesium atom, 2 lithium atoms, and 6 oxygen atoms (as part of 2 nitrate groups) on both sides.