Input interpretation
CH3CO2H + Al(OH)3 → Al(C2H3O2)3 + H2O
Acetic acid aluminum hydroxide water
Balanced equation
Balance the chemical equation algebraically:
CH3CO2H + Al(OH)3 → Al(C2H3O2)3 + H2O
Add stoichiometric coefficients,c1to the reactants and products:
c1CH3CO2H + c2 Al(OH)3 → c3Al(C2H3O2)3 + c4H2O
Set the number of atoms in the reactants equal to the number of atoms in the products for C, H, O and Al:
C: 2c1 = 6c3
H: 4c1+ 3c2 = 9 c3+ 2c4
0: 2c1+ 3c2 = 6 c3+ c4
Al:c2= c3
Since the coefficients are relative quantities and underdetermined, choose a coefficient to set arbitrarily. To keep the coefficients small, the arbitrary value is ordinarily one. For instance, set c2 = 1 and solve the system of equations for the remaining coefficients:
c1 = 3
c2=1
c3 = 1
c4 = 3
Substitute the coefficients into the chemical reaction to obtain the balanced equation:
Answer:
3 CH3CO2H + Al(OH)3 → Al(C2H3O2)3 + 3H2O