Certainly! Let's go through the process of writing the balanced chemical equation for the reaction between sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) to form sodium chloride (NaCl) and water (H₂O).
### Step-by-Step Solution:
1. Identify the reactants and products:
- Reactants: Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and Hydrochloric acid (HCl)
- Products: Sodium chloride (NaCl) and Water (H₂O)
2. Write the unbalanced chemical equation:
[tex]\[
\text{NaOH} + \text{HCl} \rightarrow \text{NaCl} + \text{H}_2\text{O}
\][/tex]
3. Balance the equation:
- Check the number of each type of atom on both sides of the equation.
- Sodium (Na), Oxygen (O), and Hydrogen (H), Chlorine (Cl).
On the reactant side:
- Na: 1
- O: 1
- H: 1 from NaOH and 1 from HCl (Total 2 H atoms)
- Cl: 1
On the product side:
- Na: 1
- O: 1 in H₂O
- H: 2 in H₂O
- Cl: 1
4. Verify the balance:
- The number of atoms of each element on the reactant side matches the number on the product side.
- This confirms that the equation is already balanced.
Thus, the balanced chemical equation for the reaction between sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid is:
[tex]\[
\text{NaOH} + \text{HCl} \rightarrow \text{NaCl} + \text{H}_2\text{O}
\][/tex]
This balanced equation shows that one molecule of sodium hydroxide reacts with one molecule of hydrochloric acid to produce one molecule of sodium chloride and one molecule of water.
