Absolutely, let's tackle the balanced chemical equation step by step.
We start with the skeleton reaction:
[tex]\[ \text{Zn} + \text{HCl} \rightarrow \text{ZnCl}_2 + \text{H}_2 \][/tex]
### Step 1: Write the Unbalanced Equation
First, let's write down the unbalanced equation provided:
[tex]\[ \text{Zn} + \text{HCl} \rightarrow \text{ZnCl}_2 + \text{H}_2 \][/tex]
### Step 2: Identify the Number of Atoms of Each Element
Next, we identify and count the number of atoms of each element on both sides:
- Reactants (Left side of the equation):
- Zinc (Zn): 1 atom
- Hydrogen (H): 1 atom (from HCl)
- Chlorine (Cl): 1 atom (from HCl)
- Products (Right side of the equation):
- Zinc (Zn): 1 atom (in ZnCl_2)
- Hydrogen (H): 2 atoms (from H_2)
- Chlorine (Cl): 2 atoms (in ZnCl_2)
### Step 3: Balance the Equation
Balancing Chlorine:
- We see that on the reactant side, there is 1 Chlorine atom. On the product side, there are 2 Chlorine atoms in [tex]\(\text{ZnCl}_2\)[/tex]. To balance this, we need to have 2 HCl molecules on the reactant side.
[tex]\[ \text{Zn} + 2\text{HCl} \rightarrow \text{ZnCl}_2 + \text{H}_2 \][/tex]
Balancing Hydrogen:
- Now, by adding 2 HCl molecules, we have 2 H atoms on the reactant side. This matches the 2 H atoms on the product side (in [tex]\(\text{H}_2\)[/tex]).
Balancing Zinc:
- Zinc is already balanced with 1 Zinc atom on both sides of the equation.
### Step 4: Verify the Balance
We now verify that each side of the equation has the same number of atoms for each element:
- Reactants:
- Zn: 1 atom
- H: 2 atoms
- Cl: 2 atoms
- Products:
- Zn: 1 atom
- H: 2 atoms
- Cl: 2 atoms
The balanced chemical equation is:
[tex]\[ \text{Zn} + 2\text{HCl} \rightarrow \text{ZnCl}_2 + \text{H}_2 \][/tex]
So in the balanced equation, the coefficients are:
- Zn: 1
- HCl: 2
- ZnCl_2: 1
- H_2: 1
Thus, the final coefficients for the balanced equation are:
[tex]\[ (1, 2, 1, 1) \][/tex]
