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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 09/19/2018 03:52 PM,wrote:<br>
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<p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0">Hi Prof. Pounds,</p>
<p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0">I am currently stuck on
one part of the Alum Synthesis lab report. When, in the first
question, it says to give the overall balanced equation, am I
supposed to start with the empirical formulas and balance from
there? Also what does it mean when the directions say "cross
out anything that occurs on both the reactant and product
sides to combine like terms" does this mean that I have to
cross out the element, or the stoichiometric coefficient? </p>
<p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0">Thank you,</p>
<p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0"><br>
</p>
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<p><br>
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<p>So the idea here is that you want to cancel common terms -- like
in a mathematical equation. If, for example, you had the two
equations</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>A + B = C</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>C + D = E</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>You could rewrite it as <br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>A + B + D = E</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>In your first two reactions you have...</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>2 Al + 2 KOH + 6 H<sub>2</sub>O --> 2 KAl(OH)<sub>4</sub> + 3
H<sub>2</sub></p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>2 KAl(OH)<sub>4</sub> + H<sub>2</sub>SO4 --> 2 Al(OH)<sub>3</sub>
+ 2 H<sub>2</sub>O + K<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub></p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>if you were to cancel out the common term you would have...</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>2 Al + 2 KOH + 3 H<sub>2</sub>O + H<sub>2</sub>SO4 --> 2
Al(OH)<sub>3</sub> + K<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub></p>
<p><sub><br>
</sub></p>
<p><font size="+1"><sub>continue this process through all four
reactions.</sub></font></p>
<p><sub><br>
</sub></p>
<p><sub><br>
</sub></p>
<p><sub><br>
</sub></p>
<p><sub><br>
</sub></p>
<p><sub><br>
</sub></p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Andrew J. Pounds, Ph.D. (<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:pounds_aj@mercer.edu">pounds_aj@mercer.edu</a>)
Professor of Chemistry and Computer Science
Mercer University, Macon, GA 31207 (478) 301-5627
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://faculty.mercer.edu/pounds_aj">http://faculty.mercer.edu/pounds_aj</a>
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