Question

halp pls, will fan and give medal~

Write the complete balanced equation for the reaction between barium oxide (BaO) and water (H2O).

I don't know where to start. I know BaO is a metal oxide and it's reacting with H2O meaning water but idk if that helps knowing :/

Answer 1

Do you know what would happen to Barium Oxide in water? One is a metal and the other is nonmetal.

(pst, it would ionize). Let me know if this makes sense and I'll keep going

Answer 2

so I need to know the charges for all the elements?

Answer 3

It would help you, yes. I can start by saying that Ba is +2. Do you know the ionic charges of each element involved here?

Answer 4

Ba is +2 (like you said heh), O is -2 and H is -1? is that right?

Answer 5

H is +1, actually (donates 1 electron, - a -1 charge). Going from there, I can figure out:

BaO -> Ba(2+) + O(2-)
H2O -> H(+) + OH(-)

Does this make sense so far?

Answer 6

@cathyangs yup, i think so far so far so good

Answer 7

Okay. So Ba(2+) really wants to bind to something, and O(2-) is 'unhappy' at 2-. I don't think you want/need to understand the gritty details of how this part works (but if you keep with your Chem course, you will learn - and it's very cool!). Ba(2+) binds to one of the OH(-)s, and the O(2-) and H(+) get together to make another OH(-), which also binds to Ba(2+).

In other ~words:
BaO + H2O <-> Ba(2+) + O(2-) + H(+) + OH(-) --> Ba(OH)2

Does this make sense? I promise it isn't magic, there is cool chemistry behind this, but your teacher can probably better explain it to you than I can over the internet.

Answer 8

I'm reading it all over a few times trying to understand. I just don't understand where the charges come in :I

Answer 9

So the O(2-) from the barium oxide and the H(+) from the water can combine to be OH(-), which is better (due to stuff you will learn later) compared to trying to have OH(-) split into O(2-) and H(+). Then, you have Ba(2+) with lots of OH(-). But one OH(-) is not enough to fill the 2+ on the Ba, so you need 2. Thus, Ba(OH)2. Make sense?

Answer 10

Ohh! Yes, that actually makes a lot of sense now. Thank you, I understand this a bit better. @cathyangs

Answer 11

So @cathyangs the 2 you add to OH(-) would make it OH(2-)? which would cancel out the (2+) on the Ba? or "neutralize" it, I guess? is that right?

Answer 12

Ah I'm sorry, I switched over to Mathematics because I thought we were done.
The (OH)2 notation is 2 OH groups. So in total it is 2 OH(-)s, with a total charge of (2-) that cancels with the (2+). Sorry if that wasn't clear before. Does it make sense now?

Answer 13

Yup, I got it. Thank you for all your help~ @cathyangs