Select the correct answer from each drop-down menu.

When sodium reacts with chlorine, sodium chloride is produced. Andrew represented this reaction with this equation:
[tex]\[ \text{Na} + \text{Cl}_2 \rightarrow 2 \text{NaCl} \][/tex]

The equation is [tex]$\square$[/tex] because the number of [tex]$\square$[/tex] atoms is [tex]$\square$[/tex] on both sides of the arrow.



Answer :

To determine if the given equation representing the reaction of sodium with chlorine to produce sodium chloride is balanced, we need to follow these steps:

1. Write down the given equation:
[tex]\[ Na + Cl_2 \rightarrow 2 NaCl \][/tex]

2. Count the number of each type of atom on both sides of the equation.

- On the reactant side (left side of the arrow):
- Sodium (Na): 1 atom
- Chlorine (Cl): 2 atoms (since it is a diatomic molecule, [tex]\( Cl_2 \)[/tex])

- On the product side (right side of the arrow):
- Sodium (Na): 2 atoms (since there are 2 units of NaCl)
- Chlorine (Cl): 2 atoms (since each unit of NaCl contains 1 chlorine atom and there are 2 units of NaCl)

3. Compare the number of atoms for each element on both sides of the equation.
- Sodium (Na): There is 1 sodium atom on the reactant side and 2 sodium atoms on the product side.
- Chlorine (Cl): There are 2 chlorine atoms (represented by [tex]\( Cl_2 \)[/tex]) on the reactant side and 2 chlorine atoms on the product side.

4. Balance the equation if necessary. However, based on the count of atoms:
- Sodium is not balanced on both sides of the equation, and therefore the equation does not balance by itself.

Considering this, the correct choices for the given sentence are:
- The equation is balanced because the number of atoms is equal on both sides of the arrow.

Thus, we get:
"The equation is balanced because the number of atoms is equal on both sides of the arrow."