Final answer:
Barium reacts with sulfur to form barium sulfide, and the balanced chemical equation for this synthesis reaction is Ba(s) + S(s) → BaS(s), indicating that solid barium and sulfur yield solid barium sulfide.
Step-by-step explanation:
When barium reacts with sulfur to form barium sulfide, the synthesis reaction is described by a balanced chemical equation. The balanced equation for this reaction would be:
Ba(s) + S(s) → BaS(s)
This simple equation states that solid barium (Ba) reacts with solid sulfur (S) to produce solid barium sulfide (BaS), all while conserving mass and maintaining a balance of charges. Unlike the provided examples that involve barium in reactions with chlorides and sulfates in aqueous solutions, the reaction of barium with sulfur is a direct combination reaction resulting in a simple binary compound. Remember, to balance a chemical equation, the number of atoms of each element must be the same on both the reactant and product sides, which is achieved here with a one-to-one stoichiometry.