Follow along with the video to balance a very similar reaction.

N2+O2⟶NO3

What is the coefficient in front of O2?

Question

Follow along with the video to balance a very similar reaction.

N2+O2⟶NO3

What is the coefficient in front of O2?

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Question restatement: Balance the reaction N2 + O2 -> NO3 and identify the coefficient in front of O2.

Option 1: 3. If we set the reaction as N2 + 3 O2 -> 2 NO3, we balance nitrogen by placing a 2 in front of NO3, which gives 2 N atoms on the product side and 2 on the reactant side from N2. Oxygen balance works out since 3 O2 provides 6 O atoms, and 2 NO3 contains 6 O atoms. This arrangement balances both elements.

Option 2: 2. If we tried O2 coefficient 2, the product side would need to have enough NO3 to match oxygen and nitrogen counts. With 2 NO3, there are 2 N atoms and 6 O atoms on the product side, which would require 2 N2 and 6 O atoms on the reactant side. However, the nitrogen balance would fail because you’d need 1 N2 (2 N atoms) to supply 4 N atoms for 2 NO3, which is inconsistent with a coefficient of 2 for O2 given the resulting oxygen balance.

Option 3: 1. An O2 coefficient of 1 would supply 2 oxygen atoms. To form NO3 with 1 N2, you would need multiple NO3 units to accumulate 3 O atoms per NO3, but the nitrogen balance still cannot be satisfied simultaneously with standard small integer coefficients. In short, O2 = 1 cannot balance both N and O with a single N2 coefficient.

Option 4: 4. With O2 coefficient 4, that would supply 8 oxygen atoms. To pair with NO3 units that collectively carry 8 or 9 oxygen atoms, you’d need a non-integer or awkward set of coefficients for NO3 to balance oxygen while matching nitrogen from N2, leading to an imbalance in N atoms or requiring fractions of NO3, which violates typical balancing with whole-number coefficients.

Putting it together, balancing the equation N2 + O2 -> NO3 requires placing a 3 in front of O2 and a 2 in front of NO3, yielding N2 + 3 O2 -> 2 NO3. This satisfies both nitrogen and oxygen balances with whole-number coefficients. Hence, the coefficient in front of O2 must be 3, and the other options fail for the reasons described above.

1A W25 VidQuiz: Writing and Balancing Chemical Equations

Follow along with the video to balance a very similar reaction. N2+O2⟶NO3 What is the coefficient in front of O2?

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