HNO3 + Cu = H2O + NO2 + CuNO3

nitric acid + copper ⟶ water + nitrogen dioxide + 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 + 2 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_2 = 1 and solve the system of equations for the remaining coefficients: c_1 = 2 c_2 = 1 c_3 = 1 c_4 = 1 c_5 = 1 Substitute the coefficients into the chemical reaction to obtain the balanced equation: Answer: | | 2 + ⟶ + + CuNO3

+ ⟶ + + CuNO3

nitric acid + copper ⟶ water + nitrogen dioxide + CuNO3

| nitric acid | copper | water | nitrogen dioxide | CuNO3 formula | | | | | CuNO3 Hill formula | HNO_3 | Cu | H_2O | NO_2 | CuNO3 name | nitric acid | copper | water | nitrogen dioxide | IUPAC name | nitric acid | copper | water | Nitrogen dioxide |

| nitric acid | copper | water | nitrogen dioxide | CuNO3 molar mass | 63.012 g/mol | 63.546 g/mol | 18.015 g/mol | 46.005 g/mol | 125.55 g/mol phase | liquid (at STP) | solid (at STP) | liquid (at STP) | gas (at STP) | melting point | -41.6 °C | 1083 °C | 0 °C | -11 °C | boiling point | 83 °C | 2567 °C | 99.9839 °C | 21 °C | density | 1.5129 g/cm^3 | 8.96 g/cm^3 | 1 g/cm^3 | 0.00188 g/cm^3 (at 25 °C) | solubility in water | miscible | insoluble | | reacts | surface tension | | | 0.0728 N/m | | dynamic viscosity | 7.6×10^-4 Pa s (at 25 °C) | | 8.9×10^-4 Pa s (at 25 °C) | 4.02×10^-4 Pa s (at 25 °C) | odor | | odorless | odorless | |