Question

Consider the following reactants:

BeCl2(aq) + 2AgNO3(aq) →
A. Predict the products and write the balanced equation.
B. Identify the type of reaction and explain your answer.

Answer 1

Answer: (a) The products are
`Be(NO_(3))_(2)` and AgCl. The balanced equation is
`BeCl_(2)(aq) + 2AgNO_(3)(aq) \rightarrow Be(NO_(3))_(2)(aq) + 2AgCl(s)`.

(b) The type of reaction is double displacement reaction.

Step-by-step explanation:

(a) The complete reaction equation will be as follows.

`BeCl_(2)(aq) + 2AgNO_(3)(aq) \rightarrow Be(NO_(3))_(2)(aq) + 2AgCl(s)`

Number of atoms on reactant side are as follows.

• Be = 1
• Cl = 2
• Ag = 2
• 
  `NO_(3)` = 2

Number of atoms present on product side are as follows.

• Be = 1
• Cl = 2
• Ag = 2
• 
  `NO_(3)` = 2

Here, number of atoms on both reactant and product side are the same. Hence, it is a balanced chemical equation.

(b) A reaction in which two reactant species tend to change their ions with each other and form new compounds. This type of reaction is called double displacement reaction.

As the given reaction is as follows.

`BeCl_(2)(aq) + 2AgNO_(3)(aq) \rightarrow Be(NO_(3))_(2)(aq) + 2AgCl(s)`

This shows that ions are being exchanges by the reactants
`BeCl_(2)` and

`AgNO_(3)`. The ions are
`Be^(2+)`,
`Cl^(-)`,
`Ag^(2+)` and
`NO^(2-)_(3)`.

Therefore, this reaction is a double displacement reaction.