Question

is this reaction balanced? explain.
hcl + naoh → nacl + h₂o

Explanation:

Step1: Count atoms on reactant side

• For \(H\): \(1\) (from \(HCl\)) \(+ 1\) (from \(NaOH\)) \(= 2\)
• For \(Cl\): \(1\) (from \(HCl\))
• For \(Na\): \(1\) (from \(NaOH\))
• For \(O\): \(1\) (from \(NaOH\))

Step2: Count atoms on product side

• For \(H\): \(2\) (from \(H_{2}O\))
• For \(Cl\): \(1\) (from \(NaCl\))
• For \(Na\): \(1\) (from \(NaCl\))
• For \(O\): \(1\) (from \(H_{2}O\))

Answer:

Yes, the reaction is balanced. Because the number of atoms of each element (\(H\), \(Cl\), \(Na\), \(O\)) is the same on both the reactant (\(HCl + NaOH\)) and product (\(NaCl + H_{2}O\)) sides.