Word equation
sodium hydroxide + hydrogen chloride → sodium chloride + water
Input interpretation
NaOH + HCL → NaCl + H2O
Sodium hydrogen hydrogen chloride sodium chloride water
Balanced equation
Balance the chemical equation algebraically:
NaOH + HCL → NaCl + H2O
Add stoichiometric coefficients, c;, to the reactants and products:
c1NaOH + c2HCL → c3 NaCl + c4 H2O
Set the number of atoms in the reactants equal to the number of atoms in the products for H, Na, O and Cl:
H: c1+ c2 = 2c4
Na: c1 =c3
O: c1=c4
Cl: c2=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 c1 = 1 and solve the system of equations for the remaining coefficients:
C1 = 1 C2=1
C3 = 1 C4 = 1
Substitute the coefficients into the chemical reaction to obtain the balanced equation:
Answer:
NaOH + HCL → NaCl + H2O
