The Rain on Venus
The minimal balanced reaction to make sulfuric acid from sulfur dioxide and water is:
x H 2 O + y S O 2 → z H 2 S O 4 + w O 2 .
What is x y z w − x + ( 2 y z ) 2 w ?
The answer is 2283.
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1 solution
The oxygen is not balanced.
I think the oxygen is on the wrong side of the equation.
2 H 2 O + S O 2 → H 2 S O 4 + H 2
2 H 2 O + 2 S O 2 + O 2 → 2 H 2 S O 4
The minimal balanced reaction is 2 H X 2 O + 2 S O X 2 → 2 H X 2 S O X 4 + O X 2 ⇒ x = 2 , y = 2 , z = 2 , w = 1
Plugging into the formula gives 2 2 2 1 − 2 + ( 2 × 2 × 2 ) 2 × 1 = 2 2 8 3