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Balance the following chemical reaction. Enter the sum of the balanced coefficients as your answer. Assign "blank" coefficients a value of 1.

[tex]\[ \text{Silicon tetrachloride} + \text{Water} \longrightarrow \text{Silicon dioxide} + \text{Hydrochloric acid} \][/tex]


Sagot :

To solve for the balanced coefficients in the chemical reaction, we need to balance each element on both sides of the equation. The unbalanced chemical reaction is:

[tex]\[ \text{SiCl}_4 + \text{H}_2\text{O} \rightarrow \text{SiO}_2 + \text{HCl} \][/tex]

We'll follow these steps:

1. Write down the number of atoms for each element in the reactants and products:

- Reactants:
- [tex]\( \text{SiCl}_4 \)[/tex]: 1 Si, 4 Cl
- [tex]\( \text{H}_2\text{O} \)[/tex]: 2 H, 1 O

- Products:
- [tex]\( \text{SiO}_2 \)[/tex]: 1 Si, 2 O
- [tex]\( \text{HCl} \)[/tex]: 1 H, 1 Cl

2. Set up the initial equation with coefficients:

Let's use variables [tex]\( a \)[/tex], [tex]\( b \)[/tex], [tex]\( c \)[/tex], and [tex]\( d \)[/tex] for the coefficients of [tex]\(\text{SiCl}_4\)[/tex], [tex]\(\text{H}_2\text{O}\)[/tex], [tex]\(\text{SiO}_2\)[/tex], and [tex]\(\text{HCl}\)[/tex], respectively. This gives us the equation:

[tex]\[ a \text{SiCl}_4 + b \text{H}_2\text{O} \rightarrow c \text{SiO}_2 + d \text{HCl} \][/tex]

3. Create and balance the equations for each element:

- Silicon (Si):
[tex]\[ a = c \][/tex]

- Chlorine (Cl):
[tex]\[ 4a = d \][/tex]

- Hydrogen (H):
[tex]\[ 2b = d \][/tex]

- Oxygen (O):
[tex]\[ b = 2c \][/tex]

4. Solve the system of equations:

From the silicon balance:
[tex]\[ a = c \][/tex]

From the chlorine balance:
[tex]\[ 4a = d \][/tex]

From the hydrogen balance:
[tex]\[ 2b = d \][/tex]

From the oxygen balance:
[tex]\[ b = 2a \][/tex]

Let's assign [tex]\( a = 1 \)[/tex]:

- From [tex]\( a = c \)[/tex]:
[tex]\[ c = 1 \][/tex]

- From [tex]\( 4a = d \)[/tex]:
[tex]\[ d = 4 \][/tex]

- From [tex]\( b = 2a \)[/tex]:
[tex]\[ b = 2 \][/tex]

5. Check the balanced reaction:

Substitute [tex]\( a = 1 \)[/tex], [tex]\( b = 2 \)[/tex], [tex]\( c = 1 \)[/tex], [tex]\( d = 4 \)[/tex] back into the reaction:

[tex]\[ 1 \text{SiCl}_4 + 2 \text{H}_2\text{O} \rightarrow 1 \text{SiO}_2 + 4 \text{HCl} \][/tex]

- Check silicon: 1 Si (left), 1 Si (right), balanced.
- Check chlorine: 4 Cl (left), 4 Cl (right), balanced.
- Check hydrogen: 4 H (left), 4 H (right), balanced.
- Check oxygen: 2 O (left), 2 O (right), balanced.

All elements are balanced, so the balanced equation is correct.

6. Sum of the coefficients:

Sum the coefficients:

[tex]\[ 1 (SiCl_4) + 2 (H_2O) + 1 (SiO_2) + 4 (HCl) = 8 \][/tex]

Therefore, the sum of the balanced coefficients is:

[tex]\[ \boxed{8} \][/tex]