Word Equation

Copper hydroxide → Cupric oxide + Water

Input Interpretation

Cu(OH)2 → CuO + H2O

Copper hydroxide, Cupric oxide, Water

Balanced Equation

To balance the chemical equation algebraically, we need to add stoichiometric coefficients, c, to the reactants and products:

c1 Cu(OH)2 → c2 CuO + c3 H2O

We then set the number of atoms in the reactants equal to the number of atoms in the products for Cu, H, and O:

Cu: c1 = c2

H: 2c1 = 2c3

O: 2c1 = c2 + c3

Since the coefficients are relative quantities and underdetermined, we choose a coefficient to set arbitrarily. To keep the coefficients small, the arbitrary value is ordinarily one. For instance, we can set c1 = 1 and solve the system of equations for the remaining coefficients:

c1 = 1, c2 = 1, c3 = 1

Substituting the coefficients into the chemical reaction, we obtain the balanced equation:

Cu(OH)2 → CuO + H2O