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\r\n Oxidation of Metals \r\n
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\r\n Oxidation of metals is a chemical reaction in which a metallic element reacts with oxygen to form a metal oxide.
\r\n Let's consider a commonly known example of a metal oxidation reaction — the rusting of iron. The chemical equation describing rusting of iron is shown below:\r\n $$ 4 Fe + 3 O_2 \\rightarrow 2 Fe_2O_3 \\text{(rust)} $$\r\n During this reaction, iron combines with oxygen to form the compound iron oxide (\\(Fe_2O_3\\)) — commonly known as rust. This process occurs over time when iron is exposed to water and oxygen, and can lead to the deterioration of the iron structure.
\r\n Is this chemical equation balanced or unbalanced?
\r\n This chemical equation is balanced because masses of all the chemical elements involved in the reaction (i.e. \\(Fe\\) and \\(O\\)) remain constant before and after the reaction.\r\n
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\r\n Learn interactively : Balancing an Oxidation Reaction \r\n
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Session Objectives
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\r\n In this visually interactive illustration, we learn how to balance a chemical equation describing oxidation of metals in step-by-step fashion.
Shown in the MagicGraph is a chemical equation that describes the reaction of a metallic element with Oxygen. You will notice that the coefficients of the reactants and products are missing.
The goal is determine the correct set of coefficients that will balance the chemical equation.\r\n
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Getting Started
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\n To get started —
\n 1. Start with entering the coefficients for the reactants and the products in the chemical equation.
\r\n 2. Once you have provided the coefficients, the MagicGraph automatically calculates the number of moles of each chemical element on the reactant side as well as on the product side.
\r\n 3. The chemical equation is balanced if the mass of each chemical element before the reaction is same as the mass after the reaction.
\r\n 4. You can adjust the coefficients to balance the mass of each chemical element before and after the reaction.\r\n