Question

Balance this chemical equation for the reaction between potassium permanganate (KMnO4) and sodium sulfite (Na2SO3) in acidic solution:KMnO4 + Na2SO3 + H2SO4 → K2SO4 + MnSO4 + Na2SO4 + H2O

Answer 1

To balance the chemical equation, we need to make sure that the number of atoms of each element is the same on both sides of the equation. We can do this by adding coefficients to the compounds.1. Balance the Mn atoms:1 KMnO4 + Na2SO3 + H2SO4  K2SO4 + 1 MnSO4 + Na2SO4 + H2O2. Balance the K atoms:1 KMnO4 + Na2SO3 + H2SO4  1 K2SO4 + MnSO4 + Na2SO4 + H2O3. Balance the Na atoms:1 KMnO4 + 1 Na2SO3 + H2SO4  K2SO4 + MnSO4 + 1 Na2SO4 + H2O4. Balance the S atoms:1 KMnO4 + 1 Na2SO3 + 1 H2SO4  K2SO4 + MnSO4 + 1 Na2SO4 + H2O5. Balance the O atoms:1 KMnO4 + 1 Na2SO3 + 3 H2SO4  K2SO4 + MnSO4 + 1 Na2SO4 + 8 H2O6. Balance the H atoms:1 KMnO4 + 1 Na2SO3 + 3 H2SO4  K2SO4 + MnSO4 + 1 Na2SO4 + 8 H2OThe balanced chemical equation is:KMnO4 + Na2SO3 + 3 H2SO4  K2SO4 + MnSO4 + Na2SO4 + 8 H2O