Final answer:
To balance the equation Ag + Cl2 → AgCl, two silver atoms are needed to pair with two chlorine atoms, resulting in the balanced equation: 2 Ag + Cl2 → 2 AgCl.
Step-by-step explanation:
To balance the chemical equation Ag + Cl2 → AgCl, you need to ensure that the number of atoms of each element is the same on both sides of the equation. In this case, the chlorine is diatomic on the reactant side, which means there are two chlorine atoms. Therefore, we need two silver atoms to pair with the two chlorine atoms to form two units of silver chloride.
Thus, the balanced equation is 2 Ag + Cl2 → 2 AgCl. Both sides now have two silver atoms and two chlorine atoms.
This process resembles the balancing of net ionic equations such as Ag+ (aq) + Cl¯ (aq) → AgCl(s), which indicates the formation of solid silver chloride from silver and chloride ions.