When you burn natural gas in the laboratory, methane burns. What numbers fill in the blanks to balance this equation? ___CH4 + ___O2? ___CO2 + ___H2O A. 1, 2, 2, 1 B. 1, 2, 1, 2 C. 2, 4, 2, 4

The answer is CH4, 2O2,? CO2 H20.

In the reaction, the the bonds in the methane and oxygen come apart, the atoms rearrange and then re-bond to form water and carbon dioxide. The little number written at the lower right after an atom (subscript) tells how many of that atom are in the molecule. The big number written in front of a molecule (coefficient) shows how many of that molecule there are. All the atoms in the products come from the atoms in the reactants.

The reactants are on the left side of the equation and the products are on the right. In the reaction, the bonds in the methane and oxygen come apart, the atoms rearrange and then re-bond to form water and carbon dioxide

All the atoms in the reactants form the products so the mass of the reactants and the products is the same. No new atoms are created and no atoms are destroyed.

B) 1,2,1,2

Explanation:

CH4+2O2 - --> CO2+2H2OC-1 C-1 H-4 O-4 O-4 H-4