Question

Given the unbalanced equation: ____ CaSO4 + ___AlCl3 --> ____ Al2(SO4)3 + _____ CaCl2

What is the coefficient of Al2(SO4)3 when the equation is completely balanced using the smallest whole-number coefficients?

Answer 1

3CaSO₄ + 2AlCl₃ → Al₂(SO₄)₃ + 3CaCl₂

Step-by-step explanation:

The reaction expression is given as:

_CaSO₄ + _AlCl₃ → _Al₂(SO₄)₃ + _CaCl₂

To balance the reaction above, let us a mathematical approach;

assign coefficients a, b, c and d to the species;

aCaSO₄ + bAlCl₃ → cAl₂(SO₄)₃ + dCaCl₂

Conserving Ca : a = d

S: a = 3c

O: 4a = 12c

Al: b = 2c

Cl: 3b = 2d

So;

let a = 1, d = 1, c =
`(1)/(3)` , b =
`(2)/(3)`

Multiply by 3 through;

a = 3, b = 2, c = 1 and d = 3

3CaSO₄ + 2AlCl₃ → Al₂(SO₄)₃ + 3CaCl₂