Write a balanced chemical equation for the reaction of gaseous nitrogen dioxide with hydrogen gas to form gaseous ammonia and liquid water.

Chemical reactions involve the transformation of substances through the breaking and forming of chemical bonds. During a chemical reaction, the substances that undergo change are called reactants, and the new substances formed are known as products. It's a process where reactant molecules collide with enough energy to overcome the activation energy barrier, leading to product formation.

Consider the reaction between nitrogen dioxide and hydrogen gas to produce ammonia and water. This reaction involves the reactants nitrogen dioxide, a brown gas with a sharp, biting odor, and hydrogen gas, a colorless and odorless gas. These substances react to form ammonia, a gas with a pungent smell, and water, a liquid essential for life. What makes this reaction particularly intriguing is not just the change in physical states but also the rearrangement of atoms to create entirely different molecules with distinct properties.

Stoichiometry is the section of chemistry that pertains to the quantitative relationships between the reactants and products in a chemical reaction. It allows chemists to predict the amounts of substances consumed and produced in a reaction, which is critical for laboratory work, industrial processes, and even cooking recipes.

Using the principles of stoichiometry, we can determine how many molecules of hydrogen are required to react completely with a given amount of nitrogen dioxide to yield ammonia and water. This process involves using the coefficients of the balanced equation, which represent the ratio in which molecules react and products form. For instance, in our nitrogen dioxide and hydrogen gas reaction, stoichiometry helps us understand that it takes three molecules of hydrogen gas to produce two molecules of ammonia and two molecules of water.

Balancing equations is the act of ensuring that a chemical equation adheres to the Law of Conservation of Mass, which states that mass cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical reaction. This means that the number of each type of atom on the reactant side must be the same as those on the product side. To achieve this, coefficients are placed before the molecules in the equation to balance the number of atoms.

In our exercise, we begin with an unbalanced equation and then adjust the coefficients to ensure that the atoms on both sides are balanced. The balanced equation for the reaction of nitrogen dioxide with hydrogen is a perfect example where the coefficients 1 for NO₂, 3 for H₂, 2 for NH₃, and 2 for H₂O ensure that there are equal numbers of each type of atom on both sides of the equation.

In a chemical equation, reactants are the starting materials that undergo a change during the reaction, while products are the substances formed as a result of the reaction. Reactants are typically written on the left side of a chemical equation, with products on the right, separated by an arrow that signifies the direction of reaction.

For the formation of ammonia and water from nitrogen dioxide and hydrogen gas, the reactants are NO₂ and H₂, and the products are NH₃ and H₂O. It's essential in a balanced chemical equation to not alter the subscripts inside the chemical formulas of the reactants or products, as this changes the substances themselves; instead, coefficients are adjusted to balance the equation. This distinction preserves the identity of the substances while ensuring that the equation respects the Law of Conservation of Mass.