I am having difficulty with balancing this acidic solution;
I2+OCl{-} ----> IO3{-} +Cl{-}
I get:
I2 = OCl{-} +2H2O -----> IO3{-} +Cl{-} + 3H{+}
The charges don't balance... What am I doing wrong?
I2 + 6H2O ==> 2IO3^- + 10e + 12H^+
OCl^- + 2e + 2H^+ ==> Cl^- + H2O
Multiply equation 1 by 1 and equation 2 by 5 and add, then cancel any common materials on both sides (like H2O)
I think your error was in not comparing apples with apples; ie. I2 can't go to IO3^-. It must be I2 to 2IO3^-. A common error by students; I made the same error when I was a student (and more than once). :-)
When balancing a chemical equation, it is important to ensure that both the number of atoms and the charges are balanced on both sides of the equation. In this particular case, you are trying to balance the equation:
I2 + OCl{-} ----> IO3{-} + Cl{-}
You started by adding water (H2O) to the left side of the equation, which is a common step to balance oxygen atoms. However, you unintentionally changed the charge of one of the reactants.
To correctly balance the equation, you can follow these steps:
Step 1: Start by counting the number of atoms of each element on both sides of the equation.
On the left side:
Iodine (I): 2 atoms
Chlorine (Cl): 1 atom
Oxygen (O): 1 atom
On the right side:
Iodine (I): 1 atom
Chlorine (Cl): 1 atom
Oxygen (O): 3 atoms
Step 2: Balance the elements one by one, starting with the most complex molecule or polyatomic ion.
Let's start with iodine (I). Since there are two iodine atoms on the left side and only one on the right side, we need to multiply IO3{-} (iodate ion) by 2.
2I2 + OCl{-} ----> 2IO3{-} + Cl{-}
Step 3: Move on to balance the chlorine (Cl). There is only one chlorine atom on both sides, so chlorine is already balanced.
2I2 + OCl{-} ----> 2IO3{-} + Cl{-}
Step 4: Finally, balance oxygen (O). On the left side, there are two oxygen atoms from the I2 molecule and one oxygen atom from the OCl{-} molecule, making a total of three oxygen atoms. To balance this, we need to add three water (H2O) molecules to the right side, as each water molecule has one oxygen atom.
2I2 + OCl{-} ----> 2IO3{-} + Cl{-} + 3H2O
Now the equation is balanced in terms of the number of atoms. However, we need to check if the charges are balanced as well. On the left side, the OCl{-} ion has a charge of -1, and on the right side, the Cl{-} ion also has a charge of -1. Therefore, the charges are balanced.
To summarize, the correctly balanced equation is:
2I2 + OCl{-} ----> 2IO3{-} + Cl{-} + 3H2O