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How would you balance the equation P + O2 -> P2O5?

The given chemical equation is for reaction between phosphorus (P) and oxygen (O2). The product is phosphorus pentoxide (P2O5). 


The reaction is : P + O2 -> P2O5


A well-balanced chemical equation contains equal number of each species on both reactant and product side. In the given equation, there is only 1 atom of phosphorus on the reactant side, while there 2 atoms on the product side. Similarly, the number of oxygen atoms are 2...

The given chemical equation is for reaction between phosphorus (P) and oxygen (O2). The product is phosphorus pentoxide (P2O5). 


The reaction is : P + O2 -> P2O5


A well-balanced chemical equation contains equal number of each species on both reactant and product side. In the given equation, there is only 1 atom of phosphorus on the reactant side, while there 2 atoms on the product side. Similarly, the number of oxygen atoms are 2 and 5 on reactant and product side, respectively. Hence this equation is not balanced. 


Let us first balance phosphorus by using a coefficient of 2 on the reactant side. That is,


2P + O2 -> P2O5


Now let us balance oxygen atoms with a coefficient of 2.5 (or 5/2) on the reactant side. That is,


2P + 5/2 O2 -> P2O5


We can also multiply the entire equation with 2 to get another form of the equation:


4P + 5O2 -> 2P2O5


Thus, the well-balanced form of chemical equation is:


`2P + 5/2 O_2 -> P_2O5`


`or`


`4P + 5O_2 -> 2P_2O_5`


Hope this helps. 

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