Name: Chemical Reactions: Their Significance and Representation
Uploaded: 2019-07-19
Duration: 4 min 43 s
Description: A chemical reaction or an equation has a lot of parts in it to convey lots of information. Let us learn what it has to unravel for us through this video.

Question

How can you say that the chemical equation is a skeletal chemical equation or a balanced chemical equation?

Accepted Answer

A balanced chemical equation is defined as one in which the number of atoms of each element on the reactant side is equal to the number of atoms of that element on the product side.
In a skeletal equation, the number of atoms on the reactant side is not equal to the number of atoms on the product side.

To differentiate between the skeletal chemical equation and the balanced chemical equation, consider the case of electrolytic dissociation of water. Water is made of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen the skeletal equation for the same can be written as follows:
$H_{2} O \to H_{2} + O_{2}$
This equation simply represents the reactants that were involved in the reaction.
But to write the balanced equation we need to balance the mass of the reactants as well as the products, and it is as follows:
$H_{2} O \to H^{+} + {OH}^{-}$ (After dissociation)
Reaction at the cathode: $2 H^{+} (aq) + 2 e^{-} \to H_{2}$ (gas)
Reaction at the anode: $2 {OH}^{-} (aq) \to \frac{1}{2} O_{2} (g) + H_{2} O + 2 e^{-}$
After balancing both the sides we get,
$2 H_{2} O \to 2 H_{2} + O_{2}$
This is the balanced equation.

How can you say that the chemical equation is a skeletal chemical equation or a balanced chemical equation?

Important Questions on Chemical Reactions and Equations

Learn and Prepare for any exam you want !