Question

Balance the following chemical equation:
$Pb{\left( {N{O_3}} \right)_2} \to PbO + N{O_2} + {O_2}$

Answer 1

Lead nitrate is an inorganic compound. It is mainly found in powder form which is white in color. Sometimes it is also found as a colorless crystal. It is also soluble in water unlike other lead salts. It was also known by the name plumbum dulce. The complete solution of this question is given in the below section.

Complete answer:
Here we can see that lead is equal on both the sides, nitrogen is unequal, and oxygen is also unequal. So we have to balance the nitrogen and oxygen on both sides. On the left hand side, we can clearly see that there are two nitrogen atoms and on the right hand side there are only one nitrogen atom present. So we should multiply two on right hand side, but when we multiply two on right hand side oxygen becomes unbalanced. Now to balance the oxygen we multiply two on left hand side and then multiply two with$PbO$, four with$N{O_2}$. Therefore, the whole reaction gets balanced. The balanced chemical equation is written below.
$2Pb{\left( {N{O_3}} \right)_2} \to 2PbO + 4N{O_2} + {O_2}$

Note:
The reaction in which a single substance or compound breaks down into two or more elements or compounds, then this reaction is known as decomposition reaction. The products formed are lead oxide$\left( {PbO} \right)$ which is yellow in color and the gas nitrogen dioxide$\left( {N{O_2}} \right)$ is released in the form of reddish fumes and the last product is oxygen gas. The compound which is on the left hand side is known as lead nitrate.