Question

What coefficients correctly balance the formula$N{{H}_{4}}N{{O}_{2}}(s)\xrightarrow{\vartriangle }{{N}_{2}}(g)+{{H}_{2}}O(g)$?

Answer 1

In this question, we will learn how to balance the chemical equation and why it is important to balance them. The chemical equation should be balanced because The number of atoms on both sides of the equation should be equal as it sticks to the Law of conservation.

Complete answer:
Here, we are associated with ammonium nitrite i.e $N{{H}_{4}}N{{O}_{2}}$
This reaction will undergo decomposition :
$N{{H}_{4}}N{{O}_{2}}(s)\xrightarrow{\vartriangle }{{N}_{2}}(g)+{{H}_{2}}O(g)$
Ammonium nitrite decomposes to produce nitrogen gas and water and the chemical equation is unbalanced. So, this is an unbalanced chemical equation.
The Law of mass conservation states that the mass can neither be created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction.
It makes us aware about the number of atoms present on the left-hand side (reactant’s side) should be equal to the number of atoms present on the right-hand side (product’s side).
It means that the atoms present initially in one formula unit of $N{{H}_{4}}N{{O}_{2}}$ must be considered on the product’s side as well.
The reactant side has two atoms of nitrogen, four atoms of hydrogen, and two atoms of oxygen whereas the product side has two atoms of nitrogen, two atoms of oxygen, and one atom of oxygen.
We can figure out from this that the atoms of nitrogen on both sides of the reaction are balanced but we need twice as many atoms of hydrogen and oxygen on the product’s side.
To balance this equation, we need to multiply water molecules by two that will double the number of atoms of both elements in a single step as water contains both hydrogen and oxygen.
$N{{H}_{4}}N{{O}_{2}}(s)\xrightarrow{\vartriangle }{{N}_{2}}(g)+2{{H}_{2}}O(g)$
So, the stoichiometric coefficients that are required to balance the equation are 1,1, and 2.

Note:
The coefficients that are seen in the chemical equations are used to represent the amount of that particular substance present in the equation. It can show the relative no. of the molecule or relative no. of moles in the equation. If nothing is shown then we assume it to be one.