Question

What are the resulting coefficients when you balance the chemical equation for the combustion of ethane, C2H6? In this reaction, ethane is burned in the presence of oxygen (O2) to form carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O). ____C2H6(g)+____O2(g)→____CO2(g)+____H2O(g) Recall that the coefficients of the final balanced equation should be whole numbers. Thus, you might need to multiply through the equation by a factor of two to obtain whole numbers in your last step. If you have trouble balancing the equation below, use the first hint to view a video of a similar equation being balanced. Then, use the rest of the hints to help you balance the equation, step-by-step. Express the coefficients as integers separated by commas. View Available Hint(s)

Answer 1

Answer: The coefficients are 2, 7, 4 and 6.

Explanation:

Every balanced chemical equation follows Law of conservation of mass.

This law states that mass can neither be created nor be destroyed but it can only be transformed from one form to another form. This means that total mass on the reactant side is equal to the total mass on the product side.

This also means that the total number of individual atoms on the reactant side will be equal to the total number of individual atoms on the product side.

For the given chemical reaction, the balanced equation follows:

$2C_2H_6(g)+7O_2(g)\rightarrow 4CO2(g)+6H_2O(g)$

On reactant side:

Number of carbon atoms = 4

Number of hydrogen atoms = 12

Number of oxygen atoms = 14

On product side:

Number of carbon atoms = 4

Number of hydrogen atoms = 12

Number of oxygen atoms = 14

Hence, the coefficients are 2, 7, 4 and 6.