Answer:
2Fe₂O₃
Explanation:
If the number of atoms of each element are the same on reactant and product sides, it is a balanced equation. This is not a balanced equation because the number of atoms of each element are not the same on reactant and product sides.
To balance an equation, let's first list the atoms:
Then, we count the number of atoms on both sides:
We multiply the number of atoms for each element on either side by the number of molecules (aka coefficient, or "big number"):
To balance the equation, we need the total number for Fe on the right side to be 4, and the total number for O on the right side to be 6. We can do that by adding a "big number", or coefficient in front, which when multiplied by the number of atoms for each element, makes a balanced equation.
2 is a good value: 2 × 2 = 4, and 2 × 3 = 6.
As such:
4Fe + 3O₂ → 2Fe₂O₃
