What is the chemical equation for diphosphorus tri...

Question

What is the chemical equation for diphosphorus trioxide + water → phosphorous acid?

Jules Bruno · Accepted Answer

We have to write a balanced chemical equation for the reaction of diphosphorous trioxide with water that produces phosphorous acid.To write the chemical equation, we will start by writing the formulas for the compounds.Diphosphorous trioxide is a covalent compound.A binary compound between two nonmetals is a covalent compound.Binary compounds are those compounds which are made from two elements only.[readmore]The name of a binary covalent compound is written by these rules:The name of the element with lower electronegativity is written first and unchanged.The name of the element with higher electronegativity is written second and is modified by changing the ending to -ide.The number of atoms of each element are mentioned using Latin numbers.Mono = 1, Di = 2, Tri = 3, etc.Diphosphorous = 2 P atomsTrioxide = 3 O atoms (ending changed to -ide)Diphosphorous trioxide = P2O3We know the formula for water is H2O.Phosphorous acid is an oxyacid with a formula of H3PO3.The unbalanced chemical reaction is:P2O3 + H2O → H3PO3A balanced chemical equation is an equation which has an equal number of atoms of each element on both sides.Let’s start by counting all the atoms on both sides of the equation.P2O3 + H2O → H3PO3Reactants             ProductsP = 2                     P = 1O = 4                     O = 3H = 2                     H = 3To balance the chemical equation, we will follow these steps:1. Balance atoms other than O and HThere are 2 P atoms on the reactant side and 1 on the product side. We will place a 2 beside H3PO3.P2O3 + H2O → 2 H3PO32. Balance H atomsThere are 2 H atoms on the reactant side and 6 H atoms on the product side. This number can be made equal by placing a 3 next to H2O.P2O3 + 3 H2O → 2 H3PO33. Balance O atomsThere are 6 O atoms on the reactant side and 6 O atoms on the product side.Oxygen is already balanced.The balanced chemical equation is:P2O3 + 3 H2O → 2 H3PO3To confirm that this equation is a balanced equation, we can count all the atoms again.Reactants      ProductsP = 2               P = 2O = 6              O = 6H = 6              H = 6

Problem: What is the chemical equation for diphosphorus trioxide + water → phosphorous acid?

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Problem: What is the chemical equation for diphosphorus trioxide + water → phosphorous acid?

FREE Expert Solution

Problem Details

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