Which element pairings are likely to react with each other.

Question

Ba and Y

Ba and Cl

Answer 1

Ba and Y are unlikely to react with each other because they are both metals and do not have a significant difference in electronegativity.

On the other hand, Ba and Cl are likely to react with each other because Ba is a metal and Cl is a nonmetal. Metals tend to lose electrons to become positively charged ions, while nonmetals tend to gain electrons to become negatively charged ions. Thus, Ba can react with Cl by transferring an electron from Ba to Cl to form the ionic compound BaCl2.