Word equation
ethanol + formaldehyde → water + acetone
Input interpretation
CH3CH2OH + HCHO → H2O + CH3COCH3
Ethanol formaldehyde water acetone
Balanced equation
Balance the chemical equation algebraically:
CH3CH2OH + HCHO → H2O + CH3COCH3
Add stoichiometric coefficients, c1, to the reactants and products:
c1CH3CH2OH + c2HCHO → c3 H2O + c4 CH3COCH3
Set the number of atoms in the reactants equal to the number of atoms in the products for C, H and O:
C: 2c1 + c2 = 3c4
H: 6c1 + 2c = 2c3 + 6c4
O: c1 + c2 = c3 + c4
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 c1 = 1 and solve the system of equations for the remaining coefficients:
c1=1 c2=1
c3 = 1 c4=1
Substitute the coefficients into the chemical reaction to obtain the balanced
equation:
Answer:
CH3CH2OH + HCHO → H2O + CH3COCH3
