Question #5d4ec

1 Answer
Dec 11, 2017

1:3

Explanation:

The written reaction is wrong, it should read;

#P_4# + #3O_2# -> #P_4O_6#

In this reaction, the molar ratio of Phosphorus to Oxygen is 1:3

When working out molar ratios, it is the number BEFORE the reactant that is the number of mols of that molecule. If there is no number, we take it to be 1 molecule (i.e. #P_4# is actually #1P_4#) Whereas the 3 infront of #O_2# means you need 3 molecules to react with the phosphorus for the reaction to proceed.

Therefore the ratio is 1:3