Chapter 3.4, Problem 3.18BFP

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation:

The balanced equation for the molecular scenes that depicts a chemical reaction between sulfur dioxide and oxygen to form sulfur trioxide is to be written and the limiting reagent is to be identified.

Concept introduction:

In a balanced chemical equation, the total mass of reactants and products are equal in a balanced chemical equation, thus, it obeyed the law of conservation of mass.

Following are the steps to write a balanced chemical equation when the reaction is depicted by molecular scenes.

Step 1: Determine the chemical formulas of the molecules. Count the number of molecule of each type to obtain the coefficients.

Step 2: Translate the obtained information into a skeleton equation. Use the smallest whole-number coefficient to write the balanced chemical equation.

Step 3: Check whether the chemical equation is balanced or not by counting the number of atoms of each element on both sides.

Step 4: Specify the states of matter of each chemical substance present in the balanced chemical equation. The table for the abbreviations used for each state is as follows:

$\begin{array}{cc}\text{State}& \text{Abbreviation}\\ \text{Solid}& s\\ \text{Liquid}& l\\ \text{Gas}& g\\ \begin{array}{l}\text{Aqueous}\\ \text{solution}\end{array}& aq\end{array}$

A limiting reagent is the one that is completely consumed in a chemical reaction. The amount of product formed in any chemical reaction has to be in accordance with the limiting reagent of the reaction.