Final answer:
The coefficient in front of NO when balancing the chemical equation NH₃(g) + NO(g) → N₂(g) + H₂O(g) is found to be 2 after balancing the nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms across the reactants and products.
Step-by-step explanation:
The coefficient in front of NO when balancing the equation NH₃(g) + NO(g) → N₂(g) + H₂O(g) can be determined through the process of balancing chemical equations. The process involves making sure the number of atoms of each element is the same on both sides of the equation. We need to balance not only nitrogen atoms but also hydrogen and oxygen atoms.
Let's start by balancing the number of nitrogen atoms. One molecule of NH₃ and one molecule of NO each contain one nitrogen atom, so we have two nitrogen atoms on the reactant side. The product side shows one molecule of N₂, which contains two nitrogen atoms, so the nitrogen is already balanced.
Next, we balance the hydrogen atoms. There are three hydrogen atoms in NH₃, and no hydrogens in NO. Since there are two hydrogen atoms in one water molecule (H₂O) on the product side, we need three halves (or 1.5) of H₂O to balance the hydrogens. However, because we cannot have a fraction as a coefficient in a balanced chemical equation, we must double all coefficients to get whole numbers. This leads to 2 NH₃ + 2 NO → 2 N₂ + 3 H₂O as the balanced equation.
Therefore, the coefficient in front of NO when the equation is balanced is 2.