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Hydrochloric acid, HCl, reacts with magnesium, Mg - OCR Gateway - GCSE Chemistry - Question 15 - 2023 - Paper 1
Question 15
Hydrochloric acid, HCl, reacts with magnesium, Mg. Magnesium chloride and hydrogen are made. What is the balanced symbol equation for this reaction? A 2HCl + Mg ... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:Hydrochloric acid, HCl, reacts with magnesium, Mg - OCR Gateway - GCSE Chemistry - Question 15 - 2023 - Paper 1
Step 1
What is the balanced symbol equation for this reaction?
Answer
To balance the reaction of hydrochloric acid (HCl) with magnesium (Mg) producing magnesium chloride (MgCl₂) and hydrogen gas (H₂), we need to ensure that the number of atoms for each element is the same on both sides of the equation.
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Write the unbalanced equation:
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Count the number of atoms:
- On the left: 1 H, 1 Cl, 1 Mg.
- On the right: 2 Cl, 2 H, 1 Mg.
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Balance the chlorine and hydrogen atoms:
- To balance chlorine, place a coefficient of 2 in front of HCl:
- Now we have: 2 H, 2 Cl, and 1 Mg.
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Final check:
- On the left: 2 H, 2 Cl, 1 Mg.
- On the right: 2 H, 2 Cl, 1 Mg.
The balanced symbol equation is:
Thus, the correct answer is option C.