Ammonia gas + oxygen gas to form nitrogen monoxide gas + liquid water

Ammonia gas + oxygen gas to form nitrogen monoxide gas + liquid water

The Correct Answer and Explanation is:

Balanced Chemical Equation:4NH3(g)+5O2(g)→4NO(g)+6H2O(l)4NH_3(g) + 5O_2(g) \rightarrow 4NO(g) + 6H_2O(l)4NH3​(g)+5O2​(g)→4NO(g)+6H2​O(l)

Explanation:

This reaction involves the combustion of ammonia gas in the presence of oxygen gas to produce nitrogen monoxide gas and liquid water. Balancing this chemical equation is essential to obey the law of conservation of mass, which states that matter cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical reaction.

To begin, we write the unbalanced equation:NH3+O2→NO+H2ONH_3 + O_2 \rightarrow NO + H_2ONH3​+O2​→NO+H2​O

First, balance the nitrogen atoms. Ammonia contains one nitrogen atom, and nitrogen monoxide also contains one. Therefore, four molecules of ammonia will give four nitrogen atoms, which means we need four NO molecules:4NH3+O2→4NO+H2O4NH_3 + O_2 \rightarrow 4NO + H_2O4NH3​+O2​→4NO+H2​O

Next, balance the hydrogen atoms. Each NH₃ molecule has three hydrogen atoms, and four NH₃ molecules will contain twelve hydrogen atoms. Since water (H₂O) has two hydrogen atoms per molecule, we need six H₂O molecules to account for the twelve hydrogen atoms:4NH3+O2→4NO+6H2O4NH_3 + O_2 \rightarrow 4NO + 6H_2O4NH3​+O2​→4NO+6H2​O

Now, we balance the oxygen atoms. On the right-hand side, there are four oxygen atoms from the NO and six oxygen atoms from the H₂O. That gives a total of ten oxygen atoms. Oxygen gas (O₂) contains two atoms per molecule, so we need five O₂ molecules:4NH3+5O2→4NO+6H2O4NH_3 + 5O_2 \rightarrow 4NO + 6H_2O4NH3​+5O2​→4NO+6H2​O

Now the equation is balanced with four nitrogen atoms, twelve hydrogen atoms, and ten oxygen atoms on both sides.

This reaction is a redox (reduction-oxidation) reaction. Ammonia acts as the reducing agent and oxygen as the oxidizing agent. Nitrogen in ammonia is oxidized from -3 in NH₃ to +2 in NO, while oxygen is reduced from 0 in O₂ to -2 in H₂O.