Silver tarnishes as silver metal reacts with hydrogen sulfide, [tex]$H_2S[tex]$[/tex], in the air. In this reaction, dark silver sulfide, [tex]$[/tex]Ag_2S$[/tex], covers the surface of silver.

When silver is polished, this coating of silver sulfide can be removed from the surface. This makes the silver shiny again.

Enter the coefficients that balance the tarnishing reaction equation. (Type 1 for no coefficient.)

[tex]\square \ Ag(s) + \square \ H_2S(g) \rightarrow \square \ Ag_2S(s) + \square \ H_2(g)[/tex]



Answer :

To balance the chemical reaction for the tarnishing of silver, we need to ensure that the number of atoms of each element on the reactant side is equal to the number on the product side. The unbalanced chemical equation is:

[tex]\[ \square \, \text{Ag}(s) + \square \, \text{H}_2\text{S}(g) \rightarrow \square \, \text{Ag}_2\text{S}(s) + \square \, \text{H}_2(g) \][/tex]

We can follow these steps:

1. Identify each element involved: We have silver (Ag), hydrogen (H), and sulfur (S).

2. Balance the silver atoms:
- There are 2 silver atoms in the product (Ag₂S), so we need 2 atoms of silver on the reactant side.

3. Balance the sulfur atoms:
- There is 1 sulfur atom in H₂S and 1 sulfur atom in Ag₂S, which are already balanced.

4. Balance the hydrogen atoms:
- There are 2 hydrogen atoms in H₂S on the reactant side, and they form 1 molecule of H₂ gas on the product side, which balances the hydrogen atoms.

So the balanced equation is:

[tex]\[ 2 \, \text{Ag}(s) + 1 \, \text{H}_2\text{S}(g) \rightarrow 1 \, \text{Ag}_2\text{S}(s) + 1 \, \text{H}_2(g) \][/tex]

Therefore, the coefficients that balance the tarnishing reaction equation are:
[tex]\[2, 1, 1, 1 \][/tex]

Hence, the balanced chemical equation is:

[tex]\[ 2 \, \text{Ag}(s) + 1 \, \text{H}_2\text{S}(g) \rightarrow 1 \, \text{Ag}_2\text{S}(s) + 1 \, \text{H}_2(g) \][/tex]

The coefficients are [tex]\( 2 \)[/tex] for Ag, [tex]\( 1 \)[/tex] for H₂S, [tex]\( 1 \)[/tex] for Ag₂S, and [tex]\( 1 \)[/tex] for H₂.

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