Metals react with oxygen to give oxides with the general formula mxoy. what is a balanced chemical equation for the reaction of iron with oxygen to yield iron (iii) oxide? fe + o2 --> feo22 fe + 3 o2 --> fe2o33 fe + o2 --> fe3o24 fe + 3 o2 --> 2 fe2o36 fe + o2 --> 2 fe3o

Explanation:

For formation of a neutral ionic compound, the charges on cation and anion must be balanced. The cation is formed by loss of electrons by metals and anions are formed by gain of electrons by non metals.  

Here iron is having an oxidation state of +3 called as cation and oxide is an anion with oxidation state of -2. Thus they combine and their oxidation states are exchanged and written in simplest whole number ratios to give neutral .

According to the law of conservation of mass, mass can neither be created nor be destroyed. Thus the mass of products has to be equal to the mass of reactants. The number of atoms of each element has to be same on reactant and product side. Thus chemical equations are balanced.

a is the correct answer