HNO3 + Cu = H2O + NO + CuNO3

nitric acid + copper ⟶ water + nitric oxide + CuNO3

Balance the chemical equation algebraically: + ⟶ + + CuNO3 Add stoichiometric coefficients, c_i, to the reactants and products: c_1 + c_2 ⟶ c_3 + c_4 + c_5 CuNO3 Set the number of atoms in the reactants equal to the number of atoms in the products for H, N, O and Cu: H: | c_1 = 2 c_3 N: | c_1 = c_4 + c_5 O: | 3 c_1 = c_3 + c_4 + 3 c_5 Cu: | c_2 = c_5 Since the coefficients are relative quantities and underdetermined, choose a coefficient to set arbitrarily. To keep the coefficients small, the arbitrary value is ordinarily one. For instance, set c_4 = 1 and solve the system of equations for the remaining coefficients: c_1 = 4 c_2 = 3 c_3 = 2 c_4 = 1 c_5 = 3 Substitute the coefficients into the chemical reaction to obtain the balanced equation: Answer: | | 4 + 3 ⟶ 2 + + 3 CuNO3

+ ⟶ + + CuNO3

nitric acid + copper ⟶ water + nitric oxide + CuNO3

| nitric acid | copper | water | nitric oxide | CuNO3 formula | | | | | CuNO3 Hill formula | HNO_3 | Cu | H_2O | NO | CuNO3 name | nitric acid | copper | water | nitric oxide |