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Can you use the materials of two water molecules (H₂O) to make two oxygen molecules (O₂) and two hydrogen molecules (H₂) ? Explain​

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Answer:

No, two water molecules cannot make 2 O2 and 2 H2 molecules.

Step-by-step explanation:

"materials of two water molecules (H₂O) to make two oxygen molecules (O₂) and two hydrogen molecules (H₂) " can be written as:

2H₂O = 2O2 + 2H2

We need for this to be a balanced equation for it to tell us what will really happen.

Note that there are 4 H and 2 O atoms coming from the reactant (H₂O). On the product side we find 4 O and 4 H atoms. The equation is not balanced. There are more O atoms produced than can be found on the reactant sides.

Let's reduce the number of O2 molecules produced from 2 to 1:

2H₂O = 1O2 + 2H2

Now it is balanced:

Reactants Products

H 4 4

O 2 2

The answer to the question is NO.

The correct statement for producing oxygen and hydrogen from water should be: Two molecules of water can make 1 oxygen (O2) and 1 hydrogen (H2) molecules.

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User Asif Shahzad
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