Lead(II) chloride, represented by the chemical formula PbCl2, is a chemical compound that contains lead and chlorine. It is both an oxidizing agent and reducing agent, meaning it can both gain and lose electrons in a redox reaction.

The oxidation-reduction (redox) reaction of PbCl2 can be represented by the following half-reactions:

Pb2+ + 2 e- → Pb0 (reduction)

2 Cl- → Cl2 + 2 e- (oxidation)

By combining these half-reactions, we can obtain the balanced chemical equation:

Input interpretation:

PbCl2 → Pb + Cl2

This equation shows that lead(II) chloride decomposes into lead and chlorine gas when heated.

Balanced equation

To balance the equation, we first assign stoichiometric coefficients to the reactants and products:

c1PbCl2 → c2Pb + c3Cl2

Next, we set the number of atoms of each element in the reactants equal to the number of atoms in the products. For Pb and Cl, this gives us the following equations:

Pb: c1 = c2

Cl: 2c1 = 2c3

Since the coefficients are relative quantities and underdetermined, we choose a coefficient to set arbitrarily. In this case, we set c1 = 1 and solve for the remaining coefficients:

c1 = 1

c2 = 1

c3 = 1

Substituting these coefficients back into the equation, we obtain the balanced chemical equation:

PbCl2 → Pb + Cl2

This balanced equation is useful for understanding the stoichiometry of the reaction, which can help in predicting the amounts of reactants needed and products formed. In addition, it can also be useful for calculating the theoretical yield of a reaction, which is the amount of product that can be obtained based on the amount of limiting reactant present.