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Predict and write the formulas for the two products of the reaction of aluminum metal al(s) with the copper(ii) chloride.

User TannerHolm
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1 Answer

27 votes
27 votes

Answer:

Cu (s) and AlCl₃ (s)

Step-by-step explanation:

This reaction can be classified as a single-displacement reaction, aka. a single-replacement reaction. These reactions involve one element swapping out another element in a compound. In this reaction, aluminum is taking the place of copper (ii) in the copper (ii) chloride compound. Aluminum takes the place of copper (ii) specifically because aluminum is more likely form a cation than anion. Copper (ii) serves as a cation in the compound.

Al (s) + CuCl₂ (s) --> Cu (s) + AlCl (s)

The final products are copper (ii) metal and aluminum chloride. The metal of copper (ii) is produced instead of the cation in order to maintain the neutral charge balance of the reaction. The chorine has a subscript of 3 because aluminum usually forms cations of a +3 charge while chlorines form anions with a -1 charge.

The balanced equation is:

2 Al (s) + 3 CuCl₂ (s) --> 3 Cu (s) + 2 AlCl (s)

User Fyodor
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