How To Balance Magnesium Oxide

According to Nivaldo Tro's "Chemistry," when a chemical reaction occurs, it is typically described by something called a chemical equation. The reactants are on the left side, and the products on the right side, with an arrow in the middle to signify the change. The challenge in reading these equations comes when the product side has more elements than the reactant side. In this case, you will need to balance the equation. Magnesium oxide, popular for preserving plants and books, is formed from a combination of magnesium and oxygen. The question is, how much of each?

Step 1

Taking the periodic table, look up the symbols for the given elements and write them down. Note that a single magnesium and oxygen gas are the reactants, while magnesium oxide is the product. Since oxygen is a gas, it is a diatomic molecule, meaning it comes in a pair.

Mg + O2 —-> MgO

Step 2

Recognize the changes that need to be made. On the left side, there are two oxygen molecules, while on the right there is only one.

Step 3

Since we cannot simply subtract a molecule of oxygen from the left side of the equation, nor can we change the equation of the product magnesium oxide,we must note the position of magnesium on the periodic table, and recall your previous knowledge of ionic bonding.

When two atoms of this element are reacted with one oxygen gas molecule, one of its electrons will be given up to oxygen's valence shell, forcing the final product to have only one atom of oxygen, which we see that it does.

Step 4

Taking your pencil to paper, the thing to do is add a "2" in front of the magnesium on the left side, making the final answer: 2 Mg + O2 —> 2 MgO