This is an oxidation-reduction (redox) reaction:
2 Cl0 + 2 e- → 2 Cl-I (reduction)
2 Ba0 - 2 e- → 2 BaI (oxidation)
Cl2 is an oxidizing agent, Ba is a reducing agent.
Input interpretation
Ba + Cl2 → BaCl2
Barium chlorine barium chlorine
Balanced equation
Balance the chemical equation algebraically:
Ba + Cl2 → BaCl2
Add stoichiometric coefficients, c, to the reactants and products:
C1 Ba + C2 Cl2 → C3 BaCl2
Set the number of atoms in the reactants equal to the number of atoms in the products for Ba and Cl:
Ba: C1=C3
Cl: 2c2=C3
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 c2 = 1 and solve the system of equations for the remaining coefficients:
c1=2 C2=1
C3 = 2
Substitute the coefficients into the chemical reaction to obtain the balanced equation:
Answer:
Ba + Cl2 → BaCl2
