In the extraction of aluminium from bauxite ore, several steps are involved. In one of these, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) reacts with aluminium oxide (Al2O3) to produce sodium aluminate (NaAlO2) and water. Write down a balanced chemical equation showing this reaction. Explain how you can test that your equation is balanced.

Respuesta :

Explanation:

A chemical reaction equation that contains same number of atoms on both reactant and product side is known as a chemically balance reaction equation.

For example, [tex]Al_{2}O_{3} + NaOH \rightarrow NaAlO_{2} + H_{2}O[/tex]

Number of atoms on reactant side are as follows.

Al = 2

O = 4

Na = 1

H = 1

Number of atoms on product side are as follows.

Al = 1

O = 3

Na = 1

H = 2

Therefore, to balance this chemical equation we multiply NaOH by 2 on reactant side. Whereas multiply [tex]NaAlO_{2}[/tex] by 2 on product side.

Therefore, the complete balance chemical equation will be as follows.

          [tex]Al_{2}O_{3} + 2NaOH \rightarrow 2NaAlO_{2} + H_{2}O[/tex]