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Writing Chemical Equations

(a) Reaction of metals with oxygen
1. 4 K (s) + O2 (g) 
 2 K2O (s) Steps of writing chemical equation.
1. Write down their chemical formula for all the
2. 4 Na (s) + O2 (g)  2 Na2O (s) reactants and products involved.
3. 2 Ca (s) + O2 (g)  2 CaO (s) 2. Balance the equation for each kind of atom
by changing the coefficient
4. 2 Mg (s) + O2 (g)  2 MgO (s) 3. Write the state symbol for each substance.
5. 4 Al (s) + 3 O2 (g)  2 Al2O3 (s) For the reaction which is carried out in water,
consider the solubilities of the products
6. 2 Zn (s) + O2 (g)  2 ZnO (s) carefully. For soluble products, use (aq), for
insoluble products, use (s)
7. 2 Pb (s) + O2 (g)  2 PbO (s)
8. 2 Cu (s) + O2 (g)  2 CuO (s)
9. 2 Hg (l) + O2 (g)  2 HgO (s) 2. Write down
(b) Reaction of metals with water
1. 2 K (s) + 2 H2O (l) 
 2 KOH (aq) + their chemical
H2 (g)
2. 2 Na (s) + 2 H2O (l) 
 2 NaOH (aq) + H2 (g)
3. Ca (s) + 2 H2O (l) 
 Ca(OH)2 (aq) + H2 (g)
(c) Reaction of metals with steam formula
1. Mg (s) + H2O (g) 
 MgO (s) + H2 (g)
2. 2 Al (s) + 3 H2O (g) 
 Al2O3 (s) + 3 H2 (g)
3. Zn (s) + H2O (g) 
 ZnO (s) + 3. Balance the
H2 (g)

(d) Reaction of metals with dilute hydrochloric acid

1. 2 K (s) + 2 HCl (aq) 
 2 KCl (aq) equation for
+ H2 (g)
2. 2 Na (s) + 2 HCl (aq) 
 2 NaCl (aq) + H2 (g)
3. Ca (s) + 2 HCl (aq) 
 CaCl2 (aq) + H2 (g)
4. Mg (s) + 2 HCl (aq) 
 MgCl2 (aq) each kind of
+ H2 (g)
5. 2 Al (s) + 6 HCl (aq) 
 2 AlCl3 (aq) + 3 H2 (g)
6. Zn (s) + 2 HCl (aq) 
 ZnCl2 (aq) + H2 (g)
7. Pb (s) + 2 HCl (aq) 
 PbCl2 (s) atom by
+ H2 (g)

(e) Reaction of metals with dilute sulphuric acid

1. 2 K (s) + H2SO4 (aq) 
 K2SO4 (aq) + changing the
H2 (g)
2. 2 Na (s) + H2SO4 (aq) 
 Na2SO4 (aq) + H2 (g)
3. Ca (s) + H2SO4 (aq) 
 CaSO4 (s) + H2 (g)
4. Mg (s) + H2SO4 (aq) 
 MgSO4 (aq) + coefficient
H2 (g)
5. 2 Al (s) + 3 H2SO4 (aq) 
 Al2(SO4)3 (aq) + 3 H2 (g)
6. Zn (s) + H2SO4 (aq) 
 ZnSO4 (aq) + H2 (g)
7. Pb (s) + H2SO4 (aq) 
 PbSO4 (s) note:+ H2 (g)

a. subscript of
formula 1
More practice
A) Balance the following equations
1. Cu (s) + 2 AgNO3(aq) 
 2 Ag(s) + Cu(NO3)2 (aq)
2. Zn (s) + 2 HCl (aq)  ZnCl2(aq) + H2(g)
3. Au2S3 (s) + 3 H2(g)  2 Au (s) + 3 H2S(g)
4. C12H22O11 (s) + 12 O2(g)  12 CO2(g) + 11 H2O(g)
5. 2 C6H6 (l) + 15 O2(g)  12 CO2(g) + 6 H2O(g)
6. 4 Fe (s) + 3 O2(g)  2 Fe2O3(s)
7. 2 C4H10 (l) + 13 O2(g)  8 CO2(g) + 10 H2O(g)
8. 4 FeO (s) + O2(g)  2 Fe2O3(s)
9. 16 Cr(s) + 3 S8(s)  8 Cr2S3(s)
10. 2 NaHCO3(s) 
 Na2CO3(s) + CO2(g) + H2O(g)

B) Write a balanced chemical equation that describes each of the following.

1. Iron metal reacts with oxygen to form iron(III) oxide.
4 Fe (s) + 3 O2(g) 
 2 Fe2O3 (s)
2. Calcium metal reacts with water to produce aqueous calcium hydroxide and hydrogen gas.
Ca (s)+ 2 H2O (l) 
 Ca(OH)2 (aq) + H2 (g)
3. Aqueous barium hydroxide reacts with aqueous sulphuric acid to produce solid barium sulphate and water.
Ba(OH)2 (aq) + H2SO4 (aq)   BaSO4 (s) + 2 H2O (l)
4. Glucose (C6H12O6) reacts with oxygen gas to produce carbon dioxide and water vapour.
C6H12O6 (s) + 6 O2(g)   6 CO2(g) + 6 H2O(g)
5. Solid iron (III) sulphide reacts with hydrogen chloride to form solid iron (III) chloride and hydrogen
sulphide gas.
Fe2S3 (s) + 6 HCl (g)  2 FeCl3 (s) + 3 H2S (g)
6. Decomposition of calcium carbonate by strong heating
CaCO3 (s)   CaO (s) + CO2 (g)
7. Addition of water to calcium oxide
CaO (s) + H2O(l)   Ca(OH)2 (aq)
8. Passing carbon dioxide into limewater, turning it to milky.
CO2 (g) + Ca(OH)2 (aq)   CaCO3 (s) + H2O (l)
9. Passing excess carbon dioxide into the milky suspension in (8) until it turns clear once again.
CaCO3 (s) + CO2 (g) + H2O (l)   Ca(HCO3)2 (aq)
10. Extracting copper from copper (II) oxide using hydrogen gas as reducing agent.
CuO (s) + H2 (g) 
 Cu (s) + H2O (l)
11. Precipitation of silver chloride from calcium chloride solution and silver nitrate solution.
CaCl2 (aq) + 2AgNO3 (aq)   2AgCl (s) + Ca(NO3)2 (aq) test for chloride ions
12. Thermal decomposition of mercury (II) oxide
2 HgO (s) 
 2 Hg (l) + O2 (g)