1. Identify the Reactants and Products
* Reactants:
* Ammonium sulfate (NH₄)₂SO₄ (aq)
* Barium acetate Ba(CH₃COO)₂ (aq)
* Products:
* Barium sulfate BaSO₄ (s) - This is a white precipitate that forms.
* Ammonium acetate NH₄CH₃COO (aq)
2. Write the Unbalanced Equation
(NH₄)₂SO₄ (aq) + Ba(CH₃COO)₂ (aq) → BaSO₄ (s) + NH₄CH₃COO (aq)
3. Balance the Equation
* Balance the barium (Ba): The equation is already balanced for barium.
* Balance the sulfate (SO₄): The equation is already balanced for sulfate.
* Balance the ammonium (NH₄): There are 2 ammonium ions on the left side and 1 on the right, so add a coefficient of 2 in front of ammonium acetate:
(NH₄)₂SO₄ (aq) + Ba(CH₃COO)₂ (aq) → BaSO₄ (s) + 2 NH₄CH₃COO (aq)
* Balance the acetate (CH₃COO): The equation is now balanced for acetate.
4. The Balanced Equation
The balanced chemical equation for the reaction is:
(NH₄)₂SO₄ (aq) + Ba(CH₃COO)₂ (aq) → BaSO₄ (s) + 2 NH₄CH₃COO (aq)
