Question

How can i balance lithium + Oxygen ------= lithium oxide?

Answer 1

`4Li + O_2 -> 2Li_2O`

Explanation:

Balancing a chemical equation means having the same number of ions / atoms as reactants as products.

Start with the product;

in this case Lithium Oxide (which is `Li_2O`)

Oxygen is a reactant in the form `O_2`

Therefore so far we have;

`Li + O_2 -> Li_2O`

We have 2 Oxygen atoms on the left side of the equation, but only 1 Oxygen atom on the right side. We cannot decrease the amount of oxygen on the left side as the oxygen is already in it's smallest unit, therefore to get the number of oxygen atoms balanced, we need to adjust the right side.

By making 2 lots of `Li_2O` as products, we end up with 2 Oxygen atoms on the right side (the same number as the left side).

So we now have;

`Li + O_2 -> 2 Li_2O`

Now we have 4 Lithium atoms on the right side, and only 1 on the left side. To rectify this, we need to have 4 Lithium atoms on the left side as well.

`4Li + O_2 -> 2Li_2O`