Question

State the limitations of a balanced chemical equation.

Answer 1

Hint: A symbolic representation of a chemical reaction which has an equal number of atoms of each element in the product and the reactant is known as a balanced chemical equation. The chemical formulae are used to represent the reactants and products.

Complete step by step solution:
We know that the chemical reactions are represented by the balanced chemical equations. The reacting species are written on the left side of the balanced chemical equation while the product species are written on the right side of the equation.
The example for a balanced chemical equation is as follows:
$2{{\text{H}}_2} + {{\text{O}}_2} \to 2{{\text{H}}_2}{\text{O}}$
The balanced chemical equation represents the reaction of formation of water from hydrogen and oxygen.
The limitations of a balanced chemical equation are as follows:
1. The balanced chemical equation does not give the actual yield of the product.
2. The balanced chemical equation does not give the information about the rate of the chemical reaction.
3. The balanced chemical equation does not tell the physical state of the reactants and the products.
4. The balanced chemical equation does not give the information about the conditions such as temperature, pressure or the catalyst that affect the reaction.
5. The balanced chemical equation does not tell about the formation of the precipitate, evolution of gas, etc.
6. The balanced chemical equation does not tell whether heat is absorbed or evolved during the chemical reaction.
7. The balanced chemical equation does not tell whether the reaction is reversible or irreversible.

Note:
The physical states of the reactant and product species can be represented by writing the symbols (s) for solid, (l) for liquid, (g) for gas and (aq) for aqueous. For example:
$2{{\text{H}}_2}\left( {\text{g}} \right) + {{\text{O}}_2}\left( {\text{g}} \right) \to 2{{\text{H}}_2}{\text{O}}\left( {\text{l}} \right)$
Thus, we can say that hydrogen and oxygen are in gaseous state and water is in liquid state.