Question

Balance the following equation in a stepwise manner:

$\mathrm{HCl}+{\mathrm{Na}}_2\mathrm{C}{\mathrm{O}}_3\underset{}{\to }\mathrm{NaCl}+{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}+{\mathrm{CO}}_2$

Answer 1

A balanced chemical equation has an equal number of atoms on both sides. So, as a first step, count the number of atoms on both sides.

• Make a table like shown below to make the process easier-

Elements	Number of atoms on the reactant side	Number of atoms on the product side
hydrogen	1$\times 2$	2
chlorine	1$\times 2$	1$\times 2$
sodium	2	1
carbon	1	1
oxygen	3	3

• As shown in the table, the number of hydrogen and sodium atoms is unequal. So, just multiply $\mathrm{HCl}$ and $\mathrm{NaCl}$ by 2 and it will be balanced.
• So, the balanced equation is written as follows:

$2\mathrm{HCl}+{\mathrm{Na}}_2\mathrm{C}{\mathrm{O}}_3\underset{}{\to }$$2\mathrm{NaCl}+{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}+{\mathrm{CO}}_2$