Write a balanced chemical equation when

Phosphorus burns with oxygen to form phophorus pentoxide

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Solution

Step 1: Given phosphorus burns in oxygen to form phosphorus pentoxide. So, the reactants are Phosphorus ( $P_{4}$ ) and oxygen ( $O_{2}$ ) and the product is phosphorus pentoxide ( $P_{2} O_{5}$ ). Then the unbalanced chemical equation is
$P_{4} + O_{2} ⟶ P_{2} O_{5}$
Step 2: In the equation, the number of phosphorus atoms in the reactants and products are 4 and 2 respectively. Also, the number of oxygen atoms in the reactants and products are 2 and 5 respectively. So, multiply $O_{2}$ by 5 and $P_{2} O_{5}$ by 2. Then the number of atoms in the reactants and products become the same.
Step 3: Hence, the balanced chemical equation is
$P_{4} + 5 O_{2} ⟶ 2 P_{2} O_{5}$

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