The following diagram shows the combination reaction between hydrogen, H2, and carbon monoxide, CO, to produce methanol, CH3OH (white spheres are H, black spheres are C, red spheres are O). The correct number of CO molecules involved in this reaction is not shown. (a) Determine the number of CO molecules that should be shown in the left (reactants) box.

Video transcript

Hi everyone. This problem reads nitrogen gas and hydrogen gas combined to produce hydrazine and spears are blue. H Spears are white. This reaction is shown in the image below, hydrogen gas are not shown. If the correct number of nitrogen molecules involved in this reaction is not shown how many molecules of nitrogen gas should be shown in the left reactant box to produce the number of hydrogen molecules in the right products box. Okay, so our goal here is to answer the question how many nitrogen gas molecules should be shown in the reactant box. Alright, so let's go ahead and get started. So looking at our products. Okay, we see we have seven molecules of hydrogen and this nitrogen gas Is the only source of nitrogen atoms in the entire reaction. So what we're going to need to do is look at the multiple ratio between the two. So we need to look at the multiple ratio for nitrogen and the nitrogen gas and hydrogen hydrogen. Excuse me. And they both have a 1-1 more ratio. Okay, it's a 1 to 1 more ratio. So, if it's a 1 to 1 more ratio, there should also be seven molecules of nitrogen gas in the reactant box. Okay, so our answer here is going to be seven molecules Of nitrogen gas because we have seven molecules of hydrogen and there's a 1-1 mole ratio of nitrogen. That is how we know this is seven. That's the end of this problem. I hope this is helpful