Question

Fe + 4H₂O → Fe₃O4 + 4H₂ Count the Atoms for the equation:

A) 9 Fe, 8 H, 4 O
B) 5 Fe, 8 H, 4 O
C) 1 Fe, 8 H, 5 O
D) 1 Fe, 8 H, 9 O

Answer 1

The question requires counting the atoms in the unbalanced chemical equation Fe + 4H₂O → Fe₃O₄ + 4H₂. The count results in 1 iron (Fe), 8 hydrogen (H), and 4 oxygen (O) atoms, making option C (1 Fe, 8 H, 4 O) the closest answer even though the chemical equation given is not balanced.

Step-by-step explanation:

The chemical equation provided is Fe + 4H₂O → Fe₃O₄ + 4H₂. To count the atoms in this equation, we look at each element individually.

• For iron (Fe), we have 1 Fe on the left side and 3 Fe as part of the Fe₃O₄ compound on the right, so the equation is currently not balanced regarding iron atoms.
• For hydrogen (H), we have 4 water molecules (₂O) each containing 2 hydrogen atoms, giving a total of 4*2 = 8 hydrogen atoms on the left. On the right, we have 4 molecules of H₂, which also contain 8 hydrogen atoms in total.
• For oxygen (O), we have 4 oxygen atoms from the 4 water molecules on the left and 4 oxygen atoms within Fe₃O₄ on the right. This means we have 4 oxygen atoms total.

Given the options provided in the question, none of them correctly count the number of iron atoms after balancing the chemical equation. If we only count without considering balancing, the closest answer would be option C: 1Fe, 8H, 4O.