Question

Write balanced equations for the reaction of scandium metal to produce the scandium(III) salt with the following nonmetals: (a) sulfur (b) chlorine (c) nitrogen (d) oxygen (forming the oxide)

Short answer

Question: Write the balanced equation for the reaction between scandium metal and sulfur to produce scandium(III) sulfide. Answer: 2 Sc (s) + 3 S (s) -> Sc2S3 (s)

Step-by-step solution

(1) Determine the charge of scandium(III) ion and the ions of the nonmetals

Scandium(III) has a charge of +3 as indicated by the roman numeral (III) after its name. To determine the charges of the nonmetal ions, we can use the periodic table. Here are the charges for each nonmetal: (a) Sulfur has a charge of -2 (since it belongs to Group 16) (b) Chlorine has a charge of -1 (since it belongs to Group 17) (c) Nitrogen forms nitride (N^(3-)) ions with a charge of -3 (since it belongs to Group 15) (d) Oxygen has a charge of -2 (since it belongs to Group 16)

(2) Write the chemical formula for each scandium(III) salt

To write the chemical formula for each scandium(III) salt, we need to balance the charges between the scandium ion and the nonmetal ions, by finding the lowest common multiple of their charges. The chemical formulas for the salts are as follows: (a) Scandium(III) sulfide: Sc2S3 (b) Scandium(III) chloride: ScCl3 (c) Scandium(III) nitride: ScN (d) Scandium(III) oxide: Sc2O3

(3) Write balanced equations for each reaction of scandium metal and the nonmetals

We can now write the balanced equations for each reaction between scandium metal and the nonmetals, using the correct stoichiometry to maintain the number of atoms of each element on both sides of the equation. The balanced equations are as follows: (a) For sulfur: 2 Sc (s) + 3 S (s) -> Sc2S3 (s) (b) For chlorine: 2 Sc (s) + 6 Cl2 (g) -> 4 ScCl3 (s) (c) For nitrogen: 2 Sc (s) + 2 N2 (g) -> 4 ScN (s) (d) For oxygen: 4 Sc (s) + 6 O2 (g) -> 2 Sc2O3 (s)