Question

How to write and balance the equation for the reaction: sodium fluoride plus copper(II) nitrate produces sodium nitrate plus copper(II) fluoride?

Answer 1

Refer to the explanation.

Explanation:

You need to determine the formulas first.

sodium fluoride: `"NaF"`

copper(II) nitrate: `"Cu(NO"_3)"_2`

sodium nitrate: `"NaNO"_3`

copper(II) fluoride: `"CuF"_2`

`"NaF + Cu(NO"_3)_2"` `rarr` `"NaNO"_3 + "CuF"_2`

All of these compounds are ionic. If we look first at the polyatomic ion `"NO"_3"^-` as a whole, we can see that there are two of them on the lefthand side and one on the righthand side. So you need to place a coefficient of `2` in front of `"NaNO"_3"`. That will cause the `"NaF"` to be unbalanced, so you need to place a coefficient of `2` in front of `"NaF"`. This will balance the fluoride ions, and you're done.

`"2NaF + Cu(NO"_3)_2"` `rarr` `"2NaNO"_3 + "CuF"_2`