A double replacement chemical equation is shown.

Question

__MnO2 + __HCl → __MnCl2 + __H2O + __Cl2

What values should be inserted into the blanks as coefficients to ensure the preservation of the law of conservation of matter?

(1 point)
Responses

1,4,1,2,1
1,4,1,2,1

1,2,1,2,1
1,2,1,2,1

2,4,2,4,1
2,4,2,4,1

2,3,1,2,1

Answer 1

To balance the given chemical equation \( \text{MnO}_2 + \text{HCl} \rightarrow \text{MnCl}_2 + \text{H}_2\text{O} + \text{Cl}_2 \), you need to count and balance the number of atoms of each element on both sides of the equation.

Let's break down the equation:

1. Start with the reactants:

   • Mn: 1 (from MnO2)
   • O: 2 (from MnO2)
   • H: 1 (from HCl)
   • Cl: 1 (from HCl)

2. Now look at the products:

   • Mn: 1 (from MnCl2)
   • Cl: 2 (from MnCl2) + 2 (from Cl2) = 4
   • H: 2 (from H2O)
   • O: 1 (from H2O)

Now let’s balance these:

Starting with Mn, we have 1 per side.

Next, for Cl, since we need 4 Cl in the products, we will need to adjust the amount of HCl on the reactant side:

If we use 4 HCl, the counts will be:

• H: 4 (from 4 HCl)
• Cl: 4 (from 4 HCl)

Now we also have:

• Mn: 1
• O: 2 (from MnO2)

With these additions, the water would provide 2 H and 1 O:

1. We have 1 Mn on both sides.
2. Cl is now balanced with 4 on both sides.
3. H is also balanced with 4 on both sides from 2 H2O.

Now our balanced equation looks like this:

\( \text{1 MnO}_2 + \text{4 HCl} \rightarrow \text{1 MnCl}_2 + \text{2 H}_2\text{O} + \text{1 Cl}_2 \)

So the coefficients will be 1, 4, 1, 2, 1.

Therefore, the correct response is:

1, 4, 1, 2, 1