How to write and balance the equation for the reaction: sodium fluoride plus copper(II) nitrate produces sodium nitrate plus copper(II) fluoride?

1 Answer
Aug 20, 2017

Refer to the explanation.

Explanation:

You need to determine the formulas first.

sodium fluoride: "NaF"NaF

copper(II) nitrate: "Cu(NO"_3)"_2Cu(NO3)2

sodium nitrate: "NaNO"_3NaNO3

copper(II) fluoride: "CuF"_2CuF2

"NaF + Cu(NO"_3)_2"NaF + Cu(NO3)2rarr"NaNO"_3 + "CuF"_2NaNO3+CuF2

All of these compounds are ionic. If we look first at the polyatomic ion "NO"_3"^-NO3 as a whole, we can see that there are two of them on the lefthand side and one on the righthand side. So you need to place a coefficient of 22 in front of "NaNO"_3"NaNO3. That will cause the "NaF"NaF to be unbalanced, so you need to place a coefficient of 22 in front of "NaF"NaF. This will balance the fluoride ions, and you're done.

"2NaF + Cu(NO"_3)_2"2NaF + Cu(NO3)2rarr"2NaNO"_3 + "CuF"_22NaNO3+CuF2