Final answer:
To balance the reaction Fe (s) + Cl₂ (g) → FeCl₃ (s), the correct coefficients are 2 for iron on the reactant side, 3 for chlorine gas, and 2 for iron(III) chloride on the product side, making the answer A) 2, 3, 2.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks what numbers belong in the blank spaces to fully balance the following reaction Fe (s) + Cl₂ (g) → FeCl₃ (s). Balancing chemical equations requires that the number of atoms of each element is the same on both sides of the equation. Looking at the reaction given, iron (Fe) reacts with chlorine (Cl₂) to form iron(III) chloride (FeCl₃). Each molecule of FeCl₃ contains one atom of iron and three atoms of chlorine.
To balance the reaction, we would need 2 atoms of iron on both sides. Thus, we put a coefficient of 2 in front of Fe on the left side. This now means we need 6 atoms of chlorine to balance, as there would be 2 FeCl₃ molecules on the product side with a total of 6 chlorine atoms. To achieve this, we place a coefficient of 3 in front of Cl₂ on the reactant side. The balanced reaction with coefficients will then be 2Fe (s) + 3Cl₂ (g) → 2FeCl₃ (s). Therefore, the correct answer is A) 2, 3, 2.