To balance the chemical equation for the reaction of ethane (C2H6) with chlorine gas (Cl2) to produce chloroethane (C2H5Cl) and hydrochloric acid (HCl), we can follow these steps:
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Write down the unbalanced equation: \[ \text{C}_2\text{H}_6 + \text{Cl}_2 \rightarrow \text{C}_2\text{H}_5\text{Cl} + \text{HCl} \]
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Count the number of atoms of each element on both sides:
- Reactants:
- C: 2 (from C2H6)
- H: 6 (from C2H6)
- Cl: 2 (from Cl2)
- Products:
- C: 2 (from C2H5Cl)
- H: 5 (from C2H5Cl) + 1 (from HCl) = 6
- Cl: 1 (from C2H5Cl) + 1 (from HCl) = 2
- Reactants:
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The C and H atoms are balanced, but the Cl atoms are not. In the products, we see there is 1 Cl from C2H5Cl and 1 Cl from HCl, which totals 2 Cl. The reactants also have 2 Cl from Cl2. Since they are balanced, we proceed with the coefficients as they are.
The correctly balanced equation is thus: \[ \text{C}_2\text{H}_6 + \text{Cl}_2 \rightarrow \text{C}_2\text{H}_5\text{Cl} + \text{HCl} \]
The coefficients for each compound are: \[ 1 \text{ C}_2\text{H}_6 + 1 \text{ Cl}_2 \rightarrow 1 \text{ C}_2\text{H}_5\text{Cl} + 1 \text{ HCl} \]
So the final balanced equation is: \[ \mathbf{1} \text{ C}_2\text{H}_6 + \mathbf{1} \text{ Cl}_2 \rightarrow \mathbf{1} \text{ C}_2\text{H}_5\text{Cl} + \mathbf{1} \text{ HCl} \]