Disposable lighters contain liquid butane (C4H10) that is vaporized and then burned to produce CO2 and H2O.

Question

Include states of mater, and use only whole number coefficients.

Balance the chemical equation for this combustion reaction.

Answer 1

So lets start with the reaction..... The butane reacts with Oxygen to produce

C₄H_10(g)+ O_{2 (g)} ------> CO_{2 (g)} + H₂O (l)

Alright so now we have our reaction with the labels of states of matter (g)-gas (l)-liquid (s) solid

Now we have to balance the equation. How do we do that? Count the number of Carbons, Hydrogens, and Oxygens on both sides of the equation..

Left Right

C- 4 C-1

H-10 H- 2

O-2 O-1

Now we need to make these the same on both sides

C₄H_10(g)+ 6.5 O_{2 (g)} ------> 4 CO_{2 (g)} + 5 H₂O (l)

Now we check both sides

Left Right

C-4 C-4

H-10 H-10

O-13 O-13

But the question states to use only whole numbers so we need to multiply through to make the 6.5 a whole number.

So we multiply everything by 2 to get rid of the 1/2

2C₄H_10(g)+ 13 O_{2 (g)} ------> 8 CO_{2 (g)} + 10 H₂O (l)

Now we check both sides one last time!

Left Right

C- 8 C-8

H-20 H-20

O-26 O-26

Hope that helps you!

-Kyle L.