Question

Consider the following unbalanced chemical equation: Fe + HCl → FeCl3 + H2 A student needs to balance this chemical equation in order to determine the coefficients of each reactant and product. What are these coefficients, and how did you arrive at them?

Answer 1

To balance the chemical equation, we need to ensure that the number of atoms of each element is equal on both sides of the equation. We can do this by adjusting the coefficients of each reactant and product.Fe + HCl  FeCl3 + H2First, let's balance the Fe  iron  atoms:1 Fe atom on the left side and 1 Fe atom on the right side, so no changes are needed.Next, let's balance the Cl  chlorine  atoms:1 Cl atom on the left side  in HCl  and 3 Cl atoms on the right side  in FeCl3 . To balance the Cl atoms, we need to put a coefficient of 3 in front of HCl:Fe + 3HCl  FeCl3 + H2Now, let's balance the H  hydrogen  atoms:There are 6 H atoms on the left side  3 HCl molecules, each with 2 H atoms  and 2 H atoms on the right side  in H2 . To balance the H atoms, we need to put a coefficient of 3 in front of H2:Fe + 3HCl  FeCl3 + 3H2Now the chemical equation is balanced:Fe + 3HCl  FeCl3 + 3H2The coefficients are 1 for Fe, 3 for HCl, 1 for FeCl3, and 3 for H2.