Question

When asked to write a balanced equation such as the reaction of sodium metal in water
How do you know that the reactants are going to be NaOH + H2 rather then NaO + H?

Answer 1

because the charges will balance typically.. NaO would have a negative charge Na is 1+ O is 2- ... H doesn't exist by itself H2 does

Answer 2

hmmm... ok

Answer 3

i had trouble too understanding why reactions happened the way the did, it's something that takes time in understanding, reactions if spontaneous tend to form products which are more stable than their reactants

Answer 4

ya i need a refresher on my highschool chemistry to make everything in my chem class now make more sense :P

Answer 5

did you just start college?

Answer 6

I went straight from highschool into university to do my Vet Nurse diploma and then I worked for 2 years. Now i'm back in first year university completing my pre-veterinary requirements. So in total its been 4 years since I was in highschool and my memory of certain subjects from that long ago is not very good :P

Answer 7

oh cool dude, yeah I'm on the same boat, was out of high school for a while and i struggled in chem and calc the first few weeks, but honestly it's all practice and reading you have to do. id suggest going to the khan academy website if you wanna brush up on some basics

Answer 8

Thanks! ive never heard of that but it looks helpfull :P

Answer 9

did you find that they focused a lot on material from highschool or more based on what they were teaching at the time?

Answer 10

it is, although it doesn't cover anything really intense.

Answer 11

yeah partly, we covered a ton of new stuff though

Answer 12

kk thanks :)

Answer 13

no prob, good luck!