How Do You Balance The Chemical Equation For The Formation Of XeO4?

The balanced chemical equation for the formation of XeO4 can be written as follows:

2 Xe + 2 O2 + 2 H2O → 2 XeO3 + 4 H+ + 4 e-

2 XeO3 + 2 H2O → XeO4 + 4 OH-

Overall reaction:

2 Xe + 2 O2 + 4 H2O → 2 XeO4 + 4 H+ + 4 OH-

In this reaction, two molecules of xenon gas (Xe) react with two molecules of oxygen gas (O2) and four molecules of water (H2O) to form two molecules of xenon trioxide (XeO3), four hydrogen ions (H+) and four electrons (e-).

Then, the two molecules of xenon trioxide (XeO3) react with two more molecules of water (H2O) to form one molecule of xenon tetroxide (XeO4) and four hydroxide ions (OH-).

To balance the equation, we need to make sure that the number of atoms of each element is the same on both sides of the equation. In this case, the equation is already balanced in terms of the number of atoms of each element.

Finally, we write the overall balanced equation by combining the two half-reactions and cancelling out the electrons:

2 Xe + 2 O2 + 4 H2O → 2 XeO4 + 4 H+ + 4 OH-