Question

Question #cf6fa

Answer 1

The balanced equation is 2K + 2HOH → H₂ + 2KOH

The usual procedure is to balance all atoms other than H and O; then balance O; then balance H.

Start with most complicated-looking molecule in the equation. This is either HOH or KOH. Let's use KOH, because we want to balance atoms other than O and H.

1. Balance all atoms other than O and H.

Put a 1 in front of the KOH. We start with

K + HOH → H₂ + 1 KOH

Since we have fixed one K atom on the right, we need one K atom on the left. We put a 1 in front of the K.

1 K + HOH → H₂ + 1 KOH

2. Balance O.

We have fixed 1 O atom on the right, so we need 1 O atom on the left. We put a 1 in front of the HOH.

1 K + 1 HOH → H₂ + 1 KOH

3. Balance H.

Now we have fixed 2 H atoms on the left, so we need 2 H atoms on the right. Oops! We already have 3 H atoms on the right. We start over, multiplying every coefficient by 2.

2 K + 2 HOH → H₂ + 2 KOH

Now we have 4 H atoms on the left and 4 H atoms on the right.

4. Check that Equation is Balanced.

Since every formula has a coefficient, we should now have a balanced equation. Let’s check:

On the left: 2 K; 4 H; 2 O.
On the right: 4 H; 2K; 2 O.

Our balanced equation is

2K + 2HOH → H₂ + 2KOH