Which is the correct equation for the reaction of water to hydrogen and oxygen?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

To evaluate which equation correctly represents the decomposition of water into hydrogen and oxygen, I will examine each option for atom balance and plausibility.
Option a: H2O → H + O. This suggests water molecule splits into a hydrogen atom and an oxygen atom. On the left, there are 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom per molecule; on the right, H and O are unbalanced as single atoms that do not form the same counts as on the left unless coefficients are added. As written, it is not balanced: we would need to adjust coefficients to conserve both mass and atoms.
Option b: 2H2O → 2H2 + O2. Here, the left side has 2 water molecules, totaling 4 hydrogen atoms and 2 oxygen atoms. The right side shows 2 hydrogen molecules (2 × H2) contributing 4 hydrogens and one oxygen molecule (O2) contributing 2 oxygens. Each element is balanced (H: 4 on both sides, O: 2 on both sides). This equality reflects the well-known electrolysis or thermal decomposition of water where water splits into hydrogen gas and oxygen gas in a 2:1 mole ratio.
Option c: H2O → H2 + O2. In this form, a single water molecule would need to yield one H2 and one O2 molecule. Hydrogen balance would be 2 hydrogens on the right but only 2 hydrogens on the left, which matches, yet oxygen balance is problematic: one water molecule has 1 oxygen, while the products would have 2 oxygens, so oxygen is not conserved. This makes the equation chemically invalid as written.
Overall, the evaluation hinges on atom conservation. Options that fail to balance hydrogen or oxygen violate mass conservation and cannot represent a real chemical reaction under standard conditions.
In summary, the balanced decomposition requires adjusting coefficients so that both hydrogen and oxygen counts match on both sides, which occurs in option b, whereas options a and c do not satisfy mass conservation due to imbalance or incorrect product stoichiometry.

NUT1101 S1 2025 Week 3 Quiz

Which is the correct equation for the reaction of water to hydrogen and oxygen?

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NUT1101 S1 2025 Week 3 Quiz

Which is the correct equation for the reaction of water to hydrogen and oxygen?

查看解析

登录即可查看完整答案

类似问题

Write the balanced equation for the reaction of H3PO4 with Ba(OH)2. You can show this on your work page.

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Describe the correct order of steps required to balance a chemical equation (1.6.4) 1: Step 1 ____ 2: Step 2 ____ 3: Step 3 ____ 4: Step 4 ____ 5: Step 5 ____ 6: Step 6 ____ 7: Step 7 ____ 8: Step 8 ____

What coefficient is placed in front of H2 to complete the balancing of the following equation? Pb + H2SO4 ---> Pb(SO4)2 + ____ H2

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