Table of contents

This is an oxidation-reduction (redox) reaction:

Na0 - 1 e- → NaI (oxidation)

2 HI + 2 e- → 2 H0 (reduction)

O-II - 1 e- → O-I (oxidation)

Na is a reducing agent, H2O is an oxidizing agent, H2O is a reducing agent.

Input interpretation

Na + H2O → NaO + H2

Sodium water hydrogen

Balanced equation

Balance the chemical equation algebraically:

Na + H2O → NaO + H2

Add stoichiometric coefficients, c;, to the reactants and products:

c1 Na + c2 H2O → c3NaO + c4 H2

Set the number of atoms in the reactants equal to the number of atoms in the products for Na, H and O:

Na: c1 =c3

H: 2c2=2c4 

O: 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 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:

Na + H2O → NaO + H2