How do you balance this equation: $? Z n + ? H_{2} S O_{4} \to ? Z n S O_{4} + H_{2}$ $?Zn + ?H_2SO_4 -> ?ZnSO_4 + H_2$

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How do you balance this equation: $? Z n + ? H_{2} S O_{4} \to ? Z n S O_{4} + H_{2}$ $?Zn + ?H_2SO_4 -> ?ZnSO_4 + H_2$

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Answer 1 · 2017-01-09T12:48:08

$Zn + H_{2} {SO}_{4} \to {ZnSO}_{4} + H_{2}$ $"Zn" + "H"_2"SO"_4 → "ZnSO"_4 +"H"_2$

Explanation:

You follow a systematic procedure to balance the equation.

Start with the unbalanced equation:

$Zn + H_{2} {SO}_{4} \to {ZnSO}_{4} + H_{2}$ $"Zn" + "H"_2"SO"_4 → "ZnSO"_4 +"H"_2$

A method that often works is first to balance everything other than $O$ $"O"$ and $H$ $"H"$ , then balance $O$ $"O"$ , and finally balance $H$ $"H"$ .

Another useful procedure is to start with what looks like the most complicated formula.

The most complicated formula looks like ${ZnSO}_{4}$ $"ZnSO"_4$ . We put a 1 in front of it to remind ourselves that the number is now fixed.

We start with

$Zn + H_{2} {SO}_{4} \to 1 {ZnSO}_{4} + H_{2}$ $"Zn" + "H"_2"SO"_4 → color(red)(1)"ZnSO"_4 +"H"_2$

Balance $Zn$ $"Zn"$ :

We have $1 Zn$ $"1 Zn"$ on the right, so we need $1 Zn$ $"1 Zn"$ on the left. We put a 1 in front of the $Zn$ $"Zn"$ .

$1 Zn + H_{2} {SO}_{4} \to 1 {ZnSO}_{4} + H_{2}$ $color(blue)(1)"Zn" + "H"_2"SO"_4 → color(red)(1)"ZnSO"_4 +"H"_2$

Balance $S$ $"S"$ :

We have fixed $1 S$ $"1 S"$ on the right. We need $1 S$ $"1 S"$ on the left. Put a 1 in front of $H_{2} {SO}_{4}$ $"H"_2"SO"_4$ .

$1 Zn + 1 H_{2} {SO}_{4} \to 1 {ZnSO}_{4} + H_{2}$ $color(blue)(1)"Zn" + color(orange)(1)"H"_2"SO"_4 → color(red)(1)"ZnSO"_4 +"H"_2$

Balance $O$ $"O"$ :

Done.

Balance $H$ $"H"$ :

We have fixed $2 H$ $"2 H"$ on the left, so we need $2 H$ $"2 H"$ on the right. Put a 1 in front of $H_{2}$ $"H"_2$ .

$1 Zn + 1 H_{2} {SO}_{4} \to 1 {ZnSO}_{4} + 1 H_{2}$ $color(blue)(1)"Zn" + color(orange)(1)"H"_2"SO"_4 → color(red)(1)"ZnSO"_4 + color(purple)(1)"H"_2$

Every formula now has a coefficient. We should have a balanced equation.

Let's check.

$Atom m lhs m rhs$ $bb("Atom" color(white)(m)"lhs"color(white)(m)"rhs")$
$m Zn m m l 1 m m l 1$ $color(white)(m)"Zn"color(white)(mml)1color(white)(mml)1$
$m H m m l l 2 m m l 2$ $color(white)(m)"H"color(white)(mmll)2color(white)(mml)2$
$m S m m m 1 m m l 1$ $color(white)(m)"S"color(white)(mmm)1color(white)(mml)1$
$m O m m l l 4 m m l 4$ $color(white)(m)"O"color(white)(mmll)4color(white)(mml)4$

All atoms balance. The balanced equation is

$Zn + H_{2} {SO}_{4} \to {ZnSO}_{4} + H_{2} {SO}_{4}$ $"Zn" + "H"_2"SO"_4 →"ZnSO"_4 + "H"_2"SO"_4$

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How do you balance this equation: $? Z n + ? H_{2} S O_{4} \to ? Z n S O_{4} + H_{2}$ $?Zn + ?H_2SO_4 -> ?ZnSO_4 + H_2$

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Explanation:

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How do you balance this equation: ?Zn+?H2SO4→?ZnSO4+H2?Zn + ?H_2SO_4 -> ?ZnSO_4 + H_2

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Explanation:

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How do you balance this equation: $? Z n + ? H_{2} S O_{4} \to ? Z n S O_{4} + H_{2}$ $?Zn + ?H_2SO_4 -> ?ZnSO_4 + H_2$