Question
If red spheres represent oxygen atoms, blue spheres represent nitrogen atoms, and all the molecules are gases, (Figure 1) Write the formula for each of the reactants.
Ask by Love Hilton. in the United States
Feb 28,2025
Upstudy AI Solution
Tutor-Verified Answer
Answer
The reactants are NO and O₃.
Solution
We first note that each sphere represents one atom. The figure shows two different reacting molecules made entirely of spheres:
• One molecule is built from one blue sphere (nitrogen) attached to one red sphere (oxygen). Since blue represents N and red represents O, its formula is NO (nitric oxide).
• The other molecule consists only of red spheres. By counting the number of spheres in that molecule (three red spheres), we see it has three oxygen atoms. Gaseous O₃ is ozone.
Thus, the two reactants are NO and O₃.
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Simplify this solution The Deep Dive
To accurately write the formula for the reactants represented by red and blue spheres, we would look at the arrangement of the spheres in the given figure. Assuming that red spheres (oxygen) are bonded in pairs, such as two red spheres (O₂) could illustrate molecular oxygen. If there are also blue spheres representing nitrogen, they could bond potentially as N₂ (molecular nitrogen). Thus, if you see two red spheres and two blue spheres, the reactants might be described as O₂ and N₂. Keep in mind that the coefficients or the number of each colored sphere shown will guide the final formula to reflect the correct ratios in the reaction context!
