Question

What are the coefficients that would be needed to balance this equation?
HgS + O2 → HgO + SO2.

Answer 1

The balanced chemical equation is 2 HgS + 3 O2 → 2 HgO + 2 SO2, with the balancing done by adjusting oxygen to balance with sulfur and mercury.

Step-by-step explanation:

The task is to balance the chemical equation HgS + O2 → HgO + SO2. To balance a chemical equation, we need to make sure that the number of atoms of each element is the same on both sides of the equation. The process often involves adding coefficients in front of the chemical formulas to achieve this balance.

Step-by-Step Explanation

1. First, list the number of atoms of each element present in the unbalanced equation.
   
2. Start by balancing elements that appear in only one reactant and one product, except for oxygen and hydrogen, which are usually balanced last.
   
3. Since Hg and S each appear in one reactant and one product, begin by placing coefficients to balance these two elements. It appears that they are already balanced.
   
4. Now look at the oxygen atoms. We have 2 O atoms in O2 and a total of 3 O atoms on the product side (2 in SO2 and 1 in HgO). To balance the oxygen, we will need a total of 2 moles of O2. This means the coefficient in front of O2 will be 2, and to balance the equation, put a coefficient of 2 in front of HgO.

The balanced equation is 2 HgS + 3 O2 → 2 HgO + 2 SO2. This demonstrates the principle of conservation of mass, where the total mass of reactants equals the total mass of products in a chemical reaction.