Question

Give equations to show how you can prepare zinc chloride starting from the following reactants.
(a) zinc
(b) zinc oxide
(c) zinc carbonate

Answer 1

(a) Zinc metal reacts with hydrochloric acid to prepare zinc chloride.

$\mathrm{Zn}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)+2HCl\; (aq)\to {ZnCl}_2(aq)H_2(g)$

(b) Zinc oxide reacts with hydrochloric acid to prepare zinc chloride.

$\mathrm{ZnO}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)+2HCl\; (aq)\to {ZnCl}_2(aq)+H_2\mathrm{O\; (g)}$

(c) Zinc carbonate reacts with hydrochloric acid to prepare zinc chloride.

${\mathrm{ZnCO}}_3\left(\mathrm{s}\right)+2HCl\; (aq)\to {ZnCl}_2(aq)+H_2\mathrm{O\; (g)}+{CO}_2(g)$