Iron reacts with oxygen to form iron (III) oxide (rust). What is the correct balanced equation?

Question

haileyd · Answer

a) FE+O->FeO
b) Fe+O2->FeO2
c) 4Fe+3O2->2FeO3
d) 2Fe+3O2->2FeO3

aaronq · Answer

what is the chemical formula for rust, iron (III) oxide?

aaronq · Answer

Hint: as you've written them above, none are the correct answe

haileyd · Answer

Oh wow, well those were my answer choices..

aaronq · Answer

the charges need to be balanced, you have the ferric ion (3+) and the oxygen ion (-2)

$\sf Fe^{3+}+O^{2-}\rightarrow Fe_2O_3$

aaronq · Answer

i didn't balance the atoms, but you get the idea

aaronq · Answer

that's not the answer, btw, i was just showing you how the ions come together

photon336 · Answer

@HaileyD remember oxidation means loss of electrons. remember metals like to lose electrons. 

When a metal/element loses electrons, it's oxidation state will go up. 

We start off we have IRON Fe 

and then we have 

Iron (III) means iron with an oxidation state of +3 

so for starters what happened in that reaction?

haileyd · Answer

So Fe3

anonymous · Answer

This is the correct balanced equation: 4Fe + 3O2 -> 2Fe2O3