Types of Chemical Reactions - 2 | Fundamentals of Chemical Reactions

General Chemistry 2 - Types of Chemical Reactions - 2

Sulfuric acid is synthesized through a three-step process:


- the first step is the combustion of elemental sulfur to produce dioxide

- the second one is the oxidation of sulfur dioxide with oxygen to produce a compound with a sulfur having an oxidation state equal to +6

- the last step is a reaction with water to make sulfuric acid.


Write chemical equations for all three steps and for the overall process.

S (s) + O2 (g) → SO2 (g)

2 SO2 (g) + O2 (g) → 2 SO3 (l)

SO3 (l) + H2O (l) → H2SO4 (aq)

Overall process: 2 S (s) + 3 O2 (g) + 2 H2O (l) → 2 H2SO4 (aq)