Question

Hydrogen peroxide, \(\mathrm{H}_{2} \mathrm{O}_{2},\) has many applications. For example, it is used as an antiseptic and also as a bleach during hair- coloring. Hydrogen peroxide may be prepared by the reaction of barium peroxide with sulfuric acid, which produces a precipitate of barium sulfate (which may be easily filtered) and a concentrated solution of hydrogen peroxide. Write the unbalanced chemical equation for this process.

Short answer

The unbalanced chemical equation for the synthesis of hydrogen peroxide (\(\mathrm{H}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{2}\)) from barium peroxide and sulfuric acid is: \(\mathrm{BaO}_{2} + \mathrm{H}_{2}\mathrm{SO}_{4} \rightarrow \mathrm{BaSO}_{4} + \mathrm{H}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{2}\)

Step-by-step solution

Identify reactants and products

In this reaction, the reactants are barium peroxide and sulfuric acid. The products are barium sulfate (a precipitate) and hydrogen peroxide. Reactants: Barium peroxide, Sulfuric acid Products: Barium sulfate, Hydrogen peroxide

Write the chemical formulas for the reactants and products

We will write the chemical formulas for the reactants and products: - Barium peroxide: \(\mathrm{BaO}_{2}\) - Sulfuric acid: \(\mathrm{H}_{2}\mathrm{SO}_{4}\) - Barium sulfate: \(\mathrm{BaSO}_{4}\) - Hydrogen peroxide: \(\mathrm{H}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{2}\)

Write the unbalanced chemical equation

Now, we will write the unbalanced chemical equation using the chemical formulas: \(\mathrm{BaO}_{2} + \mathrm{H}_{2}\mathrm{SO}_{4} \rightarrow \mathrm{BaSO}_{4} + \mathrm{H}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{2}\) This is the unbalanced chemical equation for the synthesis of hydrogen peroxide from barium peroxide and sulfuric acid.

Key concepts

Balancing Chemical Equations

Balancing chemical equations is a fundamental skill in chemistry that ensures the law of conservation of mass is respected. This law states that in a chemical reaction, matter is neither created nor destroyed. Thus, the number of atoms for each element must be the same on both the reactant and the product sides of an equation.

For instance, the unbalanced chemical equation given in the exercise, \(\mathrm{BaO}_{2} + \mathrm{H}_{2}\mathrm{SO}_{4} \rightarrow \mathrm{BaSO}_{4} + \mathrm{H}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{2}\), does not have the same number of atoms on both sides. To balance it, one would need to adjust the coefficients—the numbers placed before the chemical formulas—to ensure equal numbers of atoms for each element. This process often involves a trial and error method where you start by balancing elements that appear in only one reactant and one product, and then move on to the others, adjusting until the equation is balanced.

Chemical Reactions

Chemical reactions are processes where reactants transform into products through the breaking and forming of chemical bonds. These reactions are governed by certain laws, the most important of which is the law of conservation of mass.

Different types of chemical reactions include synthesis, decomposition, single replacement, double replacement, and combustion. The example from the exercise is a type of double replacement reaction, where parts of the reactants exchange places to form new products — in this case, barium peroxide reacts with sulfuric acid, resulting in the formation of barium sulfate and hydrogen peroxide.

Identifying the Reactants and Products

It begins with recognizing the initial substances that react (reactants) and what they produce (products), which is the crucial first step in understanding any chemical reaction.

Stoichiometry

Stoichiometry is the aspect of chemistry that refers to the quantitative relationships between the amounts of reactants and products in a chemical reaction. These relationships are derived from the balanced chemical equation, providing information on the proportions of substances involved.

It's akin to a recipe in cooking that tells you how much of each ingredient you need to make a certain amount of food. In stoichiometry, we use moles to measure these quantities, as it allows chemists to count particles of matter using Avogadro's number, \(6.022 \times 10^{23}\) particles per mole. Knowing how to perform stoichiometric calculations is crucial for predicting the amounts of products that will form from a given amount of reactants, as well as for determining the amount of reactants needed to create a specific amount of product.

Applying Stoichiometry to the Exercise

For the reaction in the exercise, one would need to use stoichiometry to calculate how much hydrogen peroxide could be produced from a certain quantity of barium peroxide and sulfuric acid.