Write a balanced chemical equation for the reaction that occurs when barium carbonate decomposes into barium oxide and carbon dioxide gas when heated.
What is BaCO3>>CO2 + BaO
To write a balanced chemical equation for the given reaction, we need to follow these steps:
Step 1: Identify the reactants and products.
The reactant in this case is barium carbonate (BaCO3), and the products are barium oxide (BaO) and carbon dioxide gas (CO2).
Step 2: Write the unbalanced equation.
Based on the reactants and products identified in Step 1, the unbalanced equation can be written as:
BaCO3 → BaO + CO2
Step 3: Balance the equation.
To balance the equation, we need to ensure that the number of atoms of each element is equal on both sides of the equation.
Let's start with barium (Ba). There is one barium atom on the left side and one on the right side, so the barium atoms are already balanced.
Next, let's balance the carbon (C) atoms. There is one carbon atom on the left side, so we need to place a coefficient of 1 in front of carbon dioxide (CO2) on the right side.
Since there is only one carbon atom in carbon dioxide, it means there are three oxygen (O) atoms on the right side (2 from CO2 + 1 from BaO). To balance the oxygen atoms, we need to place a coefficient of 3 in front of barium oxide (BaO) on the right side.
Now the equation becomes:
BaCO3 → BaO + 3CO2
The equation is now balanced with 1 barium atom, 1 carbon atom, and 3 oxygen atoms on both sides.